Village health, sanitation, and nutrition committee: Do the village level functionaries aware of their roles?

Background: National Health Mission intended to achieve decentralization and community participation through creating and supporting Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committees (VHSNCs). The services offered through VHSNC include maternal and child health, family planning, sanitation, communicable diseases and health promotion, and nutrition. The study was carried out to assess awareness on the implementation of the functioning of VHSNC implementation among village-level functionaries in the Dehradun district. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the doiwala and Raipur blocks of Dehradun district from June 2019 to July 2019. Members of VHSNC with at least 3 months of membership were included in the study. A pretested semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic variables and questions about their awareness and responsibilities in implementing VHSNC. Data were collected by personal interviews using Epi-Collect and analyzed by SPSS 23. Result: Out of 69 members, 64 (92.4%) had formal education until high school. Only around 50% of members knew about the essential documents related to the VHSNC. Sixty-five members (98.48%) believed that the committee had the primary role in health-related services in the village, 54 (81.82%) members also marked providing safe drinking water as a function, 48 (72.73%) were in favor of access to clean public toilet and sanitation facilities while some others added role in Public Distribution System. Conclusion: Around half of the members were partially or completely aware of the functioning of VHSNCs. Providing them with further awareness is required