Chadha Committee, appointed by Government of India in 1963, stands as a landmark in history of Indian public health planning. Chaired by Dr. M.S. Chadha, then Director General of Health Services, its primary mission was to prepare country’s healthcare infrastructure for “maintenance phase” of National Malaria Eradication Programme (NMEP).
Purpose
By early 1960s, India’s National Malaria Eradication Programme (NMEP) had achieved significant success. Program moved through three phases—Preparatory, Attack, and Consolidation—and was ready to enter final Maintenance Phase.
Government needed a strategy to ensure that once malaria was eradicated, it would not return. Chadha Committee was tasked with:
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Reviewing existing rural health facilities.
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Suggesting staff requirements for continuous malaria vigilance.
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Proposing a way to integrate malaria activities into general health services.
2. Key Recommendations
Committee’s findings shifted burden of disease surveillance from specialized “malaria-only” teams to general primary healthcare system.
Basic Health Worker (BHW)
Most significant recommendation was creation of a new cadre of frontline workers.
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Ratio: One Basic Health Worker (BHW) for every 10,000 population.
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Multipurpose Role: Although primarily for malaria vigilance, these workers were intended to be multipurpose. In addition to malaria, they were responsible for:
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Collecting vital statistics (births and deaths).
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Promoting family planning activities
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Strengthening Infrastructure
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Primary Health Centers (PHCs): Committee recommended that vigilance operations be responsibility of PHC at block level.
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Laboratory Support: Each PHC was to have a microscope and a laboratory technician to examine blood smears for malaria parasites immediately.
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Supervision: Family Planning Health Assistants were designated to supervise 3 to 4 Basic Health Workers to ensure tasks were being carried out effectively.
3. Impact and Criticism
While Chadha Committee’s vision for integrated health services was progressive, its implementation faced significant hurdles:
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In practice, Basic Health Workers were overburdened. They were expected to cover a population of 10,000 for malaria, family planning, and data collection.
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Because family planning had high political priority and specific targets, workers often prioritized it over malaria surveillance. This led to a dilution of vigilance required to prevent a malaria resurgence.
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Many PHCs lacked promised laboratory technicians and equipment, leading to delays in diagnosis.
[!IMPORTANT]
The perceived failure of the Chadha Committee’s “multipurpose” approach led to the appointment of Mukherjee Committee (1965), which recommended delinking malaria activities from family planning to ensure both received adequate attention.
4. Historical Significance
Chadha Committee is often studied as first major attempt to move away from vertical programs (programs focusing on a single disease) toward an integrated health service. It laid groundwork for future Multipurpose Workers (MPW) Scheme, which was later refined by Kartar Singh Committee in 1973 and remains a pillar of India’s rural health delivery today.