• Dr Abhay Shukla
• Dr Abhijit Das
• Mr Alok Mukhopadhyay
• Mr A R Nanda
• Mr Gopi Gopalakrishnan
• Dr H Sudarshan
• Ms Indu Capoor
• Ms Mirai Chatterjee
• Dr Narendra Gupta
• Ms Poonam Muttreja
• Dr Thelma Narayan
• Dr Vijay Aruldas

Representative from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW)

• Mr Manoj Jhalani, Joint Secretary – Policy, MoHFW

Permanent Invitee

• Dr Sanjeev Kumar, Executive Director, National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC)

Representatives from the AGCA Secretariat

• Dr Sanjay Pandey
• Mr Alok Vajpeyi
• Mr Bijit Roy
• Mr Vijay Jamwal
• Mr Ajay Misra
• Mr Daman Ahuja
• Ms Tripti Chandra
• Ms Seema Upadhyay
• Mr Saurabh Raj
• Ms Jolly Jose

AGCA members who could not attend the meeting and were given leave of absence

• Dr Dileep Mavalankar
• Mr Harsh Mander
• Dr M Prakasamma
• Dr Sharad Iyengar
• Prof Ranjit Roy Chaudhury
• Dr Saraswati Swain

• Approval of Community Action for Health (CAH) component of the State Programme Implementation Plans (PIPs) for FY 2014-15;
• National Consultation on CAH; and
• priority areas for Community Action.

The following inputs were provided by the AGCA Members:

• Disbursal of funds from the state governments to nodal organizations in Maharashtra and Bihar is not regular, as a result there are gaps in the programme implementation process. A letter from MoHFW to the State Mission Directors, NHM, in this regard would be of great help.
• Guidance and support was requested from the MoHFW to finalize modalities of AGCA’s collaboration with NHSRC, including an early disbursement of funds to implement the Strengthening Community Action for Health under NHM programme.
• Members shared concerns regarding the prolonged delays to re-initiate implementation of the CAH component in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. They requested MoHFW to consider writing to the State Mission Directors to reinitiate the processes.
• The ambit of community action should be extended to cover other social determinants, especially nutrition. A joint meeting could be organised with the MoHFW and Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoW&CD) to explore the support, which the AGCA can provide to initiate monitoring of nutrition entitlements under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). Dr Abhay Shukla, Dr Thelma Narayan, Ms Mirai Chatterjee  and Ms Indu Capoor (Member, AGCA) volunteered to participate in the proposed meeting.
• A sub-committee comprising representatives from the NHSRC and the AGCA should be constituted to suggest steps, which allow aggregation and incorporation of village level plans into the District and State Programme Implementation Plans (PIP). The sub-committee will comprise of Dr H Sudarshan, Dr Abhay Shukla, Ms Mirai Chatterjee (Members AGCA), Dr Satish Kumar (NHSRC), Mr Bijit Roy, Mr Vijay Jamwal and Dr Ajay Misra (AGCA Secretariat). Dr Satish Kumar, who will join soon, will coordinate the process on behalf of NHSRC.
• The content and layout of the CAH website have been revised as per the inputs received from the MoHFW. The AGCA team will write to the MOHFW and NHSRC to link it to their websites.
• The AGCA had supported the State NHM teams in Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh to develop the CAH component of their State PIP for FY 2014-15. However, the states dropped the component in the PIP finalization stage.
• Three chapters of the Rogi Kalyan Samiti (RKS) training manual have been developed and submitted to NHSRC. The chapters are on a) Monitoring of Hospital Services  b)  Ensuring Equity and Social Inclusion and  c)  Public Participation in the RKS. The Secretariat will share the chapters with AGCA members.

The following points were made by Mr Manoj Jhalani, Joint Secretary (Policy), MoHFW:

• The MoHFW has written to the Tamil Nadu State Mission Director NHM to reinitiate implementation of the CAH programme. A copy of the letter would be shared with AGCA members for reference and follow up.
• The MoHFW is in the process of drafting a new Health Policy. The request for suggestions has been uploaded on the NHM website. It was agreed that the AGCA would share its inputs with the MoHFW.
• The Additional Secretary and Mission Director, NHM has written to the State Mission Directors, NHM to ensure integration of the community process structures, which include components such as ASHA, Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committee (VHSNC), Rogi Kalyan Samiti (RKS) and CAH. A copy of the letter would be shared with AGCA members for reference.
• To expedite the process of disbursement of funds through NHSRC,  a draft MoU should be shared with the MoHFW
• To reduce exigencies, states are being encouraged to develop multi-year Programme Implementation Plans (PIPs). In line with this, state governments can develop a multi- year plan for CAH implementation in partnership with NGOs. The AGCA should share a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which details the modalities of partnership between NGOs and state governments for CAH implementation. The MoHFW would review the MoU and share it with the states for adoption.
• To ensure continuity, the MoHFW has sent a letter to the State Governments to continue implementation of all on-going activities under NHM, after a vote-on-account of the budget. In addition, states have been provided an advance of 33 percent of their total budget outlay. Mr Jhalani will share a copy the letter with the AGCA members.

Day 1

• Inaugural Session: Mr Nikhil Dey (Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan) could be invited to speak on Significance of Community Action in case Ms Aruna Roy is unable to participate.
• Session 3- CAH in Urban Areas: Representative from Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat, Pune, could be invited to participate in the panel discussion, alongwith Public Affairs Committee and SAHAJ .
• Session 4- Initiatives for Grievance Redressal: Mr Biraj Patnaik/Mr Shekhar Singh from the Right to Food Campaign could be invited make a presentation, along with Society for Social Audit, Accountability and Transparency (SSAAT).
• Session 5- Perspective of development partners on Community Action: Representatives from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Department for International Development (DFID), John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, Open Society Foundations and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) could be invited.

Day 2

• Session 1: Implementation perspectives from the field – Maharashtra and Bihar: A panel discussion with Panchayat Representative, Medical Officer and the State Nodal Officer to share their experiences, learnings and challenges from CAH implementation processes should be included.

The following points were made by Mr Manoj Jhalani, Joint Secretary (Policy), MoHFW:

• Expenses related to the travel and accommodation of the State Mission Directors and Nodal Officers will be borne by the state governments.

• Separate manuals will be developed for VHSNC members and Programme Managers.
• The language of the manuals would be further simplified.
• Illustrations will be included, especially in the manual for VHSNC members.
• The section on gradation of CAH tools will be included only in the manual for Programme Managers.
• The section on Core principles of CAH will be moved to the main text in the Programme Manager’s manual.
• A separate note on the public service monitoring tools will be included so as to establish a link with the VHSNC manual.

• Dr Narendra Gupta informed that he has resigned from the primary membership of the Aam Aadmi Party. The group requested him to share a copy of his resignation letter.
• It was decided that members should refrain from having any direct political affiliation.
• Members should attend at least one third of the AGCA meetings.
• The Secretariat will send updated attendance list to the members. In addition, a specific email will be sent to members who have not been attending meetings regularly, to inform the group regarding their availability and willingness to participate in the AGCA meetings. The details would simultaneously be shared with the MoHFW.
• The name of Dr Shanti Ghosh will be not be on the list due to her demise.

• Share key experiences and processes from community action models implemented in sectors such as health, nutrition and livelihoods implemented across a variety of contexts;
• Examine relevance of models of community accountability from other social sectors and its applicability for health.
• Identify critical readiness factors required within the current institutional environment to facilitate effective scaling up of CAH.
• Generate recommendations to strengthen implementation and institutionalization of CAH

• Increased understanding among policy makers, programme managers and implementers on different community processes and models for enhanced accountability.
• Key challenges and potential solutions identified to facilitate effective scaling up of CAH.
• Greater commitment to make CAH a priority intervention under NHM.