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Historical Background/Periodical Development
Public Health Laboratory, Pune is the pioneer Institute in the State for the development of Laboratory services. It came into existence as “Sanitary Board Laboratory” in 1912. The Laboratory works for statutory control of Water and Waste Water & Food examination bacteriological as well as chemical.

WHO recognized the Laboratory at Pune as District Referral Laboratory in 1960. In 1971 it was declared by WHO as Regional Referral Laboratory for receiving UNICEF Aid. In 1973 the laboratory was elevated to the status of State Public Health Laboratory. In 1975 Food and Agricultural Organization recognized the laboratory for monitoring metallic contaminants in food commodities. The State Public Health Laboratory, Pune, Regional Public Health Laboratory Nagpur & Aurangabad have been notified by Government as Water & Waste Water characterization laboratories under the Maharashtra Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act 1974 from May 1976 & Public Analysts were declared as Government Analysts from 1977.

For proper coordination and rationalization of working of the laboratories under Urban Development and Public Health Department an expert committee was appointed in July 1974 and October 1975. As per the recommendations of this committee laboratory of the water pollution Board, Maharashtra prevention of Water Pollution Investigation Center Laboratory, Public Health Engineering Laboratories and Food and Drug Administration were transferred to the Directorate of Health Services. These laboratories were merged with Health Services to form 11 Public Health Laboratories. The places of these laboratories are as follows:
  1. Pune
  2. Aurangabad
  3. Nagpur
  4. Amravati
  5. Kolhapur
  6. Solapur
  7. Jalgaon
  8. Sangli
  9. Nasik
  10. Nanded
  11. Kokan Bhavan (Washi) Navi Mumbai
Besides 11 food testing laboratories, the D.P.H Laboratories at Ahmednagar, Satara, Thane,Jalna, Beed & Gadchiroli have been permitted to undertake the analysis of food samples under the provisions of the prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954 & rules there under, as well as informal samples. These laboratories have started food analysis work from Nov. 2006 and at present 17 public health laboratories are functioning as Food Testing Laboratories.

Water and sanitation decade was observed from 1980 to 1990. During this period from 1985 to 1989 remaining 19 District Public Health Laboratories were created at the remaining districts for water quality monitoring.

Government of India has recognized State Public Health Laboratory, Pune as the Central Food Laboratory for the examination of Appellate food samples from Madhya Pradesh, Div, Daman and Dadra–Nagar Haveli 1978. The State of Karnataka and Union Territories of Delhi Corporation were added to Central Food Laboratory, Pune in 1980.

At present there are 30 Public Health Laboratories in the state. Laboratory at Pune functions as State Public Health Laboratory. Laboratories at Aurangabad and Nagpur are Regional level laboratories. And remaining 27 Public Health Laboratories are District Public Health Laboratories mainly engaged in chemical and bacteriological quality monitoring of drinking water.

Central Food Laboratory, Pune – 411001
In year 1976 Government of India had decided to have one Central Food Laboratory for each zone. Hence in addition to Central Food Laboratory, Calcutta, three more Central Food Laboratories at Ghaziabad, Mysore and Pune were created. The State Public Health Laboratory, Pune had been notified as Central Food Laboratory. This Laboratory is functioning since 1st April 1978 and it is performing various statutory functions as per PFA act 1954 and Rules 1955 as follows.
  1. To examine statutory appellate Food Samples received from various Courts of various States as per the jurisdiction and Port Health Authorities.
  2. To create data for fixing Standards for various Food commodities under the provisions of PFA Act and Rules.
  3. To participate in various collaborative projects pertaining to Food commodities sponsored by ICMR, New Delhi, CSIR, New Delhi, and WHO etc.
  4. To participate in various Sub–committee Meetings of Central Committee for Food Standards (CCFS).
The Scheme of Central Food Laboratory, Pune was accepted on the basis of 100% grant–in–aid from Central Government.

Objectives of Public Health Labs
To monitor the Quality of Water and Food by analyzing the samples of these articles and to submit the reports to the concerned authorities. The monitoring is carried out as per the guidelines under the following mentioned Acts and Rules thereafter.
  1. Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974.
  2. Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954 and Rules 1955.

Strategy
  1. Water Quality Monitoring, bacteriological as well as chemical, at each district level from rural as well as urban area through the application of Water(Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974.
  2. Food Quality Monitoring trough the application of Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act 1954 and Rules 1955.
  3. Quality Monitoring of various chemical disinfectants used for treatment of water and maintaining of quality of water.
  4. Water Quality Control and Surveillance.
  5. Analysis of samples like Stool, Blood, Vomit etc. to determine/confirm bacterial organism causing water-borne diseases and food poisoning cases.
  6. Active participation in the control of epidemic due to water borne disease under Rapid Response Team/IDSP.
Services to the Common People
  1. To protect the interest of common people by using a tool of quality monitoring, whether they are provided pure and clean drinking water and wholesome food to the implementation of respective Statutory provisions.
  2. The common people can also avail the facility of testing water, food articles by paying nominal fees.
  3. To create awareness regarding drinking water quality and wholesome food through the organization of exhibition for common people.
Special Features of Public Health Labs
Special Features of Programme Achievements
State Public Health Laboratory Pune
Activities of Public Health Labs
Activities of Public Health Laboratories are divided in three main sections:
  1. Food Sections
  2. Water Section (Chemical Analysis)
  3. Bacteriology Section
Food Sections
Following are the functions carried out by food section of the 11 food testing public health laboratories in the state.
  1. Analysis of various kinds of food samples under the provisions of Prevention of Food Adultration Act, 1954 and Rules 1955, as per their Analysis of food samples collected in connection with food poisoning incidences for chemical toxicants like heavy metals, alkaloids, pesticide residues, cannabis constituents etc.
  2. To give thorough knowledge – technical as well as practical – about food analysis and food adulteration to visitors like Medical Officers Local Self Govt. people, College Students, Nursing Students, Medical Students from Govt. Medical College and Private Medical College, AFMC, School children etc. Analysis of food samples collected by the food Inspectors of Food and Drug Administration of the State at the time of VIP/VVIP visits.
  3. Analysis of Iodized salt samples under the National Iodine Deficiency Disorder Control Programme.
  4. Analysis of Urine samples of the patients collected by Primary Health Centers at the village level to locate the deficiency of iodine under the above–mentioned program. In near future, all District Public Health Laboratories will be strengthened to carry out the analysis of urine samples.
  5. Analysis of food samples, also from private organization/individual person etc. is carried out – as per desired/required parameters and fees are charged Samples received from private bodies is carried out by respective food standards specified in Appendix B of Rule 5 of the P.F.A. Rules 1955. The food articles having no specific standards under Appendix B are analyzed as per the general PFA Rules applicable to them.
  6. Analysis of various kinds of food samples received from Government bodies like Civil Supply, Govt. Hospitals, Social Welfare Dept., Tribal Welfare Dept., Police Dept. etc.
  7. To organize exhibitions related with “Food Adultration” as and when required.
  8. To organize Training Programs regarding Food Analysis, Methods in food analysis, Modification in methodology etc. to the technical staff engaged in food analysis at various Public Health Labs., and also to the Consumer Organization, NGO’s etc.
Implementation of PFA Act 1954 and Rules 1955
Since long period, food adulteration is well known aspect, The Central Govt. has passed the PFA Act in 1954. Earlier the PFA Act was enforced within Municipal Corporation and Council Areas only. Accordingly PFA Rules were framed in the year 1955 to carry out the provisions of this Act. To bring the rural areas within the purview of implementation of this Act, in 1970 the implementation was handed over to independent department – Food and Drugs Administration of Maharashtra State. The Commissioner – an IAS Officer – of the FDA is notified as the “Food (Health) Authority” for the entire State of Maharashtra. Apart from Food and Drug Administration, Municipal Corporations, Councils and Cantonment Boards in their respective areas also implement the Act.

The Aim and Objects of the PFA Act
  1. To prevent Food Adultration.
  2. To protect Consumer’s Interest.
Various Authorities responsible for implementation of the PFA Act 1954.
  1. Food Inspectors of FDA, Municipal Corporations, Councils and Cantonments, Railways.
  2. Local (Health) Authority of FDA, Municipal Corporations, Councils and Cantonments, Railways.
  3. Public Analyst.
  4. Licensing Authorities.
  5. Consenting Authority.
  6. Consumer Councils
  7. Courts of Law
Water Section
Following are the functions carried out in the Water Section of Public Health Labs. In the State under Water quality monitoring. Collection of Water Sample for Chemical Examination Collection of Bleaching powder Sample for Chemical Examination Storage Various Authorities responsible for the implementation of the Act
Bacteriological Examination Training And Health Education Sample collection methods (Bacteriological Examination)
For effective bacteriological examination of water it is important that the water sampling should fulfill the following requirements. Transportation
The shorter the time that elapses between collection of sample and its analysis the more reliable will be the analytical results. Therefore send the sample at destination at an earliest.

Concerned Laboratories
Samples should be sent to or to The District Public Health Laboratory at an earliest.
(Annexure I)

Collection of Stool Sample
Reliability of results obtained will depend largely on the care taken in collecting samples. Stool samples are collected for various different tests as follows. 1) For Microscopic examination to detect the presence of eggs or larvae of parasitic worms. 2) To detect bacteriological pathogens like Vibrio, Salmonella and Shigella. Storage
Store the samples at 04 degrees C. Each sample should be properly & appropriately labeled. Detail information should be sent for each sample as below:
  1. Name of Patient.
  2. Name of Mother and Father.
  3. Address of Patient.
  4. Sex.
  5. Date of Onset of Symptoms.
  6. Provisional Diagnosis.
  7. Clinical Outcome.
  8. Antibiotic received prior to collection of sample – Yes / No / Not known.
Transportation
Transport the specimens preferably in cold chain. If not possible send them at ambient temperature at earliest.

Concerned Laboratories
Samples should be sent to or to The District Public Health Laboratory at an earliest.
(Annexure I).

Collection of Blood Sample for detection of pathogens causing Enteric fever Collection of food Sample for Food poisoning outbreaks
Food borne diseases include food poisoning due to toxins produced by microorganisms (e.g. Staphylococcus aureus). In fact, all the waterborne infections (Viral, bacteriological and parasitic) can be transmitted through contamination of food. Food borne outbreaks are very common in our country. Collection of swabs for “Sterilization testing” of Operation theatre swabs Storage
Store the collected swab at ambient temperature and not at freezing temperature.

Transportation
Transport swab to the laboratory at an earliest preferably within 24 hrs of collection.

Concerned Laboratories
Send operation theatre swabs to State Public Health Laboratory Pune–411001.
Region Wise
Performance of all the Public Health Laboratories in the state pertaining to the activities in Food, Water and Bacteriological Section of the laboratories for the Calender Years 2003 and 2007 is mentioned as follows:

Regionwise Performance of Public Health Laboratories in The State of Maharashtra During Calender Year 2007
Sr. No. Name of Laboratory Food Section Water Section Bacteriology Section Total
1 Mumbai Region Total 3492 7303 55088 65883
2 Nashik Region Total 6581 8511 47858 62950
3 Pune Region Total 19371 8349 80681 108401
4 Kolhapur Region Total 4545 12401 25664 42610
5 Aurangabad Region Total 3611 2921 41098 47630
6 Latur Region Total 2890 3905 45361 52156
7 Akola Region Total 2951 9418 68120 80489
8 Nagpur Region Total 5425 10304 75758 91487
  Grand Total 48866 63112 439628 551606

Regionwise Performance of Public Health Laboratories in The State of Maharashtra for the Month JAN 2008
Sr. No. Name of Laboratory Food Section Water Section Bacteriology Section Total
1 Mumbai Region Total 324 524 8359 9207
2 Nashik Region Total 490 508 8912 9910
3 Pune Region Total 1738 747 9457 11942
4 Kolhapur Region Total 367 1018 4577 5962
5 Aurangabad Region Total 540 106 4680 5326
6 Latur Region Total 347 342 7179 7868
7 Akola Region Total 162 612 8090 8864
8 Nagpur Region Total 720 668 14132 15520
  Grand Total 4688 4525 65386 74599

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Performance of Public Health Lab
District Wise
Performance of all the Public Health Laboratories in the state pertaining to the activities in Food, Water and Bacteriological Section of the laboratories for the Calender Years 2003 to 2006 is as follows:

Calender Year: 2003
Sr.no Name of the Laboratory Food Water Chemical Bact. Section Total
1 Ahmadnagar 412 448 21345 22205
2 Akola 40 1808 20533 22381
3 Amaravati 2769 2107 37385 42261
4 Aurangabad 2433 1656 28661 32750
5 Beed 81 382 19279 19742
6 Bhandara 342 1555 19075 20972
7 Buldana 443 1063 20576 22082
8 Chandrapur 123 841 15740 16704
9 Dhule 407 791 8992 10190
10 Gadchiroli 119 417 11082 11618
11 Jalgaon 1911 208 26871 28990
12 Jalna 191 504 15273 15968
13 Kokan Bhavan 1737 247 23484 25468
14 Kolhapur 2386 5457 18877 26720
15 Latur 146 554 23740 2440
16 Nagpur 7002 5126 33767 45895
17 Nanded 1634 885 24772 27291
18 Nashik 1974 1043 21999 25016
19 Osmanabad 97 2260 17569 19926
20 Parbhani 0 600 22395 22995
21 Pune 13642 5439 20581 39662
22 Raigad–Alibag 0 2224 15506 17730
23 Ratnagiri 481 1748 18226 20455
24 Sangli 2070 6245 14705 23020
25 Satara 68 5129 12129 17326
26 Sindhudurg 0 1232 15853 17085
27 Solapur 2294 954 20107 23355
28 Thane 299 1582 17773 19654
29 Wardha 83 660 13163 13906
30 Yeotmal 347 2338 22724 25412
Total 43531 55503 602182 679219

Calender Year: 2004
Sr.no Name of the Laboratory Food Water Chemical Bact. Section Total
1 Ahmadnagar 653 2633 20658 23944
2 Akola 236 2391 14797 17424
3 Amaravati 3874 5949 37400 47223
4 Aurangabad 1852 1383 27140 30375
5 Beed 113 314 22925 23352
6 Bhandara 467 1703 18706 20876
7 Buldana 938 1616 21310 23864
8 Chandrapur 152 15 18603 18770
9 Dhule 666 1140 9083 10889
10 Gadchiroli 321 455 10961 11737
11 Jalgaon 1062 46 24906 26014
12 Jalna 561 586 16073 16715
13 Kokan Bhavan 1631 175 25260 27066
14 Kolhapur 2205 5550 18477 26232
15 Latur 282 622 21746 22650
16 Nagpur 6263 5611 34475 46349
17 Nanded 1852 564 28977 31393
18 Nashik 1195 1061 20024 22280
19 Osmanabad 60 1707 13128 14895
20 Parbhani 332 22914 23246
21 Pune 12308 4364 17412 34084
22 Raigad–Alibag 368 2978 16315 19661
23 Ratnagiri 695 1551 22024 24270
24 Sangli 1660 5746 15762 23168
25 Satara 107 5956 14872 20935
26 Sindhudurg 381 1611 16960 18952
27 Solapur 2420 709 17403 20532
28 Thane 399 1522 17406 19327
29 Wardha 112 1007 12933 14052
30 Yeotmal 423 4082 20866 25371
Total 42751 63379 599516 705646


Calender Year: 2005
Sr.no Name of the Laboratory Food Water Chemical Bact. Section Total
1 Ahmadnagar 1556 4475 31055 37086
2 Akola 247 2451 20664 23362
3 Amaravati 3846 1712 37014 42572
4 Aurangabad 1351 1593 25861 28805
5 Beed 150 428 24499 25077
6 Bhandara 435 2643 30573 33651
7 Buldana 979 1633 20687 23299
8 Chandrapur 431 1111 24189 25731
9 Dhule 1577 1826 18205 21608
10 Gadchiroli 154 390 76062 76606
11 Jalgaon 559 679 24952 26190
12 Jalna 246 548 15312 16106
13 Kokan Bhavan 2001 271 21068 23340
14 Kolhapur 2773 5571 23133 31477
15 Latur 499 938 22219 23656
16 Nagpur 7377 5894 46348 59619
17 Nanded 2643 663 30247 33553
18 Nashik 1972 948 37030 39950
19 Osmanabad 439 1683 22644 24766
20 Parbhani 263 759 23369 24391
21 Pune 14000 3874 28012 45886
22 Raigad–Alibag 537 2653 15959 19149
23 Ratnagiri 588 1665 22822 25075
24 Sangli 1631 4163 18656 24450
25 Satara 204 6388 27283 33875
26 Sindhudurg 1023 1932 16606 19561
27 Solapur 2355 582 17382 20319
28 Thane 555 1868 43158 45581
29 Wardha 186 1286 17355 18827
30 Yeotmal 278 4704 28507 33489
Total 50855 65331 810871 927057

Calender Year: 2006
Sr.no Name of the Laboratory Food Water Bacteriology Total
1 Ahmadnagar 1432 4916 10916 17264
2 Akola 343 1957 12352 14652
3 Amaravati 2697 1415 31555 35667
4 Aurangabad 1737 1215 19318 22270
5 Beed 456 568 12873 13897
6 Bhandara 1134 3153 14478 18765
7 Buldana 1049 1637 5907 8593
8 Chandrapur 582 1108 9537 11227
9 Dhule 1366 1419 9732 12517
10 Gadchiroli 765 936 11982 13683
11 Jalgaon 980 1151 10852 12983
12 Jalna 552 743 10700 11995
13 Kokan Bhavan 1799 230 17573 19602
14 Kolhapur 2493 5643 13494 21630
15 Latur 786 1191 10970 12947
16 Nagpur 4553 7987 30343 42883
17 Nanded 2707 931 9923 13561
18 Nashik 1882 738 18091 20711
19 Osmanabad 459 1677 10241 12377
20 Parbhani 493 628 10008 11129
21 Pune 18283 3849 20643 42775
22 Raigad–Alibag 668 2982 11700 15350
23 Ratnagiri 861 1906 10786 13553
24 Sangli 1539 4180 7256 12975
25 Satara 228 5811 11240 17279
26 Sindhudurg 1948 2321 6011 10280
27 Solapur 2122 627 10714 13463
28 Thane 984 1830 15473 18287
29 Wardha 319 995 7654 8968
30 Yeotmal 406 3686 12209 16301
Total 55623 67430 394531 517584


Calender Year: 2007
Sr.no Name of the Laboratory Food Water Bacteriology Total
1 Ahmadnagar 3119 5061 10776 18956
2 Akola & Washim 276 2430 13229 15935
3 Amaravati 2132 1376 28564 32072
4 Aurangabad 2908 1123 19420 23451
5 Beed 546 523 13783 14852
6 Bhandara & Gondia 0 2399 13657 16056
7 Buldana 543 1826 6214 8583
8 Chandrapur 0 1041 8844 9885
9 Dhule & Nandurbar 988 1183 9244 11415
10 Gadchiroli 0 652 11805 12457
11 Jalgaon 1382 1454 10311 13147
12 Jalna 703 1011 12019 13733
13 Kokan Bhavan 3267 447 16697 20411
14 Kolhapur 2526 5430 12068 20024
15 Latur 301 997 9953 11251
16 Nagpur 5389 5240 32810 43439
17 Nanded 2043 828 11328 14199
18 Nashik 1092 813 17527 19432
19 Osmanabad 0 1557 10297 11854
20 Parbhani & Hingoli 0 787 9659 10446
21 Pune 14088 3348 52839 70275
22 Raigad 0 2411 10304 12715
23 Ratnagiri 225 2342 9917 12484
24 Sangli 2019 4861 7801 14681
25 Satara 845 4267 12672 17784
26 Sindhudurg 0 2110 5795 7905
27 Solapur 4438 734 15170 20342
28 Thane 0 2103 18170 20273
29 Wardha 36 972 8642 9650
30 Yeotmal 0 3786 20113 23899
Total 48866 63112 439628 551606

Month – January 2008
Sr.no Name of the Laboratory Food Water Bacteriology Total
1 Ahmadnagar 233 324 2660 3217
2 Akola & Washim 14 176 1717 1907
3 Amaravati 40 120 2770 2930
4 Aurangabad 454 69 1714 2237
5 Beed 47 72 1809 1928
6 Bhandara & Gondia 65 132 2203 2400
7 Buldana 49 95 1530 1674
8 Chandrapur 8 49 1713 1770
9 Dhule & Nandurbar 108 95 1282 1485
10 Gadchiroli 21 28 5181 5230
11 Jalgaon 97 62 1914 2073
12 Jalna 56 16 1208 1280
13 Kokan Bhavan 210 6 1287 1503
14 Kolhapur 253 475 1927 2655
15 Latur 32 49 1344 1425
16 Nagpur 599 415 3792 4806
17 Nanded 225 74 2250 2549
18 Nashik 52 27 3056 3135
19 Osmanabad 43 147 1776 1966
20 Parbhani & Hingoli 30 21 1758 1809
21 Pune 1398 290 4808 6496
22 Raigad 17 202 1538 1757
23 Ratnagiri 28 198 1992 2218
24 Sangli 66 439 1382 1887
25 Satara 160 403 2268 2831
26 Sindhudurg 48 104 1268 1420
27 Solapur 180 54 2381 2615
28 Thane 69 118 3542 3729
29 Wardha 27 44 1243 1314
30 Yeotmal 59 221 2073 2353
Total 4688 4525 65386 74599


Detail Performance can be procured from the respective Annual Reports.

Yearly report of Iodized Salt Analysis January 2007 to December 2007
Sr.no Name of District No. of Samples Analysed Standred Samples Sub – Standard Samples Non – Iodized Salt
1 Ahmednagar 840 828 12 0
2 Akola & Washim 387 321 65 1
3 Amaravati 214 187 27 0
4 Aurangabad 628 580 48 0
5 Beed 613 586 21 6
6 Bhandara & Gondia 1057 895 162 0
7 Buldhana 1096 971 112 13
8 Chandrapur 319 302 17 0
9 Dhule & Nandurbar 750 596 154 0
10 Gadchiroli 482 453 29 0
11 Jalgaon 378 366 11 1
12 Jalna 937 821 104 12
13 Kokan Bahvan 2 2 0 0
14 Kolahpur 998 941 57 0
15 Latur 816 756 58 2
16 Nagpur 1790 1353 437 0
17 Nanded 359 317 42 0
18 Nashik 361 343 18 0
19 Osmanabad 380 339 15 26
20 Parbhani & Hingoli 449 368 81 0
21 Pune 1182 1113 68 1
22 Raigad 350 296 53 1
23 Ratnagiri 685 654 31 0
24 Sangli 266 266 0 0
25 Satara 378 374 4 0
26 Sindhudurg 680 668 12 0
27 Solapur 280 243 15 22
28 Thane 783 569 166 48
29 Wardha 275 274 1 0
30 Yeotmal 710 589 121 0
  Total 18445 16371 1941 133

Report of Iodized Salt Analysis in the month of January 2008
Sr.no Name of District No. of Samples Analysed Standred Samples Sub – Standard Samples Non – Iodized Salt
1 Ahmednagar 58 54 4 0
2 Akola & Washim 23 23 0 0
3 Amaravati 62 45 5 12
4 Aurangabad 94 88 6 0
5 Beed 31 31 0 0
6 Bhandara & Gondia 65 64 1 0
7 Buldhana 49 44 5 0
8 Chandrapur 8 8 0 0
9 Dhule & Nandurbar 53 48 5 0
10 Gadchiroli 21 19 2 0
11 Jalgaon 32 32 0 0
12 Jalna 36 34 2 0
13 Kokan Bahvan 0 0 0 0
14 Kolahpur 84 83 1 0
15 Latur 32 30 2 0
16 Nagpur 194 163 31 0
17 Nanded 10 7 3 0
18 Nashik 7 6 1 0
19 Osmanabad 43 38 5 0
20 Parbhani & Hingoli 30 25 5 0
21 Pune 82 78 4 0
22 Raigad 17 15 2 0
23 Ratnagiri 28 27 1 0
24 Sangli 13 13 0 0
25 Satara 28 28 0 0
26 Sindhudurg 48 48 0 0
27 Solapur 26 26 0 0
28 Thane 69 60 7 2
29 Wardha 27 27 0 0
30 Yeotmal 59 43 16 0
  Total 1329 1207 108 14

Expected Community Participation
Community Participation is expected in the various Exhibitions held by the Laboratory in relation with Food and Water Quality Programs like Jalswaraj, Blockwise development of Drinking Water Sources, Swajaldhara, Shivkalin Panni Sathvan Yogana of State Govt.

Community Participation is also expected in the implementation and monitoring (Build, Operate and Own) of various water supply schemes at village level.

Role of NGOs
NGO can participate in the various schemes of the government implemented for common people at rural and urban level, for creating awareness in the community regarding the benefits of the scheme. Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities also may be effectively carried out by NGO.

NGO can also keep watch or be active like a watchdog over the implementation of the schemes. They can study results and cost–benefit ratio analysis of the schemes/programs.

Health Education Messages
Important Health Education Messages
Consumption of clean and safe water and unadulterated food should be actively adopted and strictly followed by the community.