Health planning through Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committees.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide systematic empirical evidence on the health planning through Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committees (VHSNCs) in India. Design/methodology/approach – A micro-level study was carried out using qualitative study design. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 105 respondents selected from 42 VHSNC sites. A thematic analytical framework approach was used to analyse the data. Findings – The research results indicate that VHSNCs are playing a significant role in health planning. However, the committee meetings are not organised by the committee members on the regular basis. Most of the VHSNC members do not make village health plans. There are some challenges associated with the functioning of VHSNCs like insufficient resources, lack of people’s interest, insignificant attention and the unfair behaviour of the Panchayati Raj leaders. Practical implications – The implications of the findings suggest that VHSNCs play a significant role in h...