Health Index 2019: Kerala's dilemma and Bihar's tragedy

Linking funding under National Health Mission (NHM) to incremental performance of states puts good performing states in a fix

The Health Index 2019 released by the Niti Aayog puts southern states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu in a fix. Kerala has again come up trumps in the index. But its performance has deteriorated in 2017-18 as compared to 2015-16, which ranks it 16 out of 21 states in terms of incremental performance. So Kerala has been classified as a “not improved” state despite topping the charts. 

Now India’s Ministry of Health has decided to link funding under India’s Rs 31,745 crore National Health Mission (NHM) to performance of states in this index. States like Kerala and Tamil Nadu make