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7.  The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 

•  The UAPA was introduced in 1967 as a legislation to set out reasonable restrictions on the fundamental freedoms under Article 19(1) of the Constitution, such as freedom of speech, right to assemble peacefully and right to form associations. These restrictions were meant to be used to safeguard India’s integrity and sovereignty.

•  It is meant to outlaw and penalize unlawful and terrorist activities, which pose a threat to the integrity and sovereignty of India. 

•  It also provides wide-ranging powers to the Central Government to designate organizations as terrorist organizations and also prescribes the penalties for taking part in the activities of such organizations.

Changes in 2019

•  It allows the Central government, subject to certain procedural requirements and conditions, to designate an individual as a terrorist. As per the existing UAP Act, the Central government can only designate organisations, and not individuals, as terrorists.

•  While the Act specified that terror cases may be investigated by officers of the rank of Deputy Superintendent or Assistant Commissioner of Police or above, the Bill specifies that NIA officers of the rank of Inspector or above may investigate cases.

•  Under the UAPA Act, every investigating officer was required to obtain the prior approval of the Director-General of Police if he wished to seize properties linked with terrorism. The Bill adds the clause that if the investigation is conducted by an NIA officer, he approval of the Director-General of NIA would be required for the same.

•  It broadens the scope of what constitutes a terrorist act. Among other things, the existing UAP Act defines terrorist acts to include acts committed within the scope of certain treaties listed in the schedule to the Act. The UAPA Bill has added another treaty, namely the International Convention for Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (2005) to the schedule to the UAP Act.

Criticism of the Act

•  The designation of individuals as terrorists without a fair trial is a “violation of Article 21 (no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law) and Article 14 (equality before law) of the Constitution of India”.

•  Now, the NIA will no more be bound to follow Article 22 (a safeguard that says every person who is arrested or detained in custody shall be produced before the nearest magistrate within a period of 24-hours of arrest) of the Constitution and the sections of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure). 

•  A person can now be designated as terrorist by a government’s notification. He or she will have to prove himself or herself innocent before the probing agency within a period of one month. If investigators reject the arguments of the defendant, he has to approach the Review Committee, which will comprise of ex-judges and bureaucrats. No time period is specified for the committee to give its opinion on the matter. If the Review Committee rules against the person, he or she will have to knock the doors of the Supreme Court.

•  Earlier, the government had the power to attach properties but only the judiciary was empowered to declare anyone a terrorist. The NIA had the obligation to inform the local police before conducting any raid, detaining any suspect and calling the person for questioning and there should be diary entry of any such action in the local police station. But the amendment has infringed upon the power of the state police. The NIA can take any suspect on remand for a period of six months. Earlier, it was 30 days (one month).

•  The amended law is in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The two are known as the International Bill of Human Rights.

8.  Provisions related to the State Election Commissioner

•  The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of all elections to the panchayats shall be vested in the state election commission. 

•  It consists of a state election commissioner to be appointed by the governor. State election commissioner cannot be removed by the governor, though appointed by him.

Article 243K Clause(2) “Subject to the provisions of any law made by the Legislature of a State the conditions of service and tenure of office of the State Election Commissioner shall be such as the Governor may by rule determine: Provided that the State Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his office except in like manner and on the like ground as a Judge of a High Court and the conditions of service of the State Election Commissioner shall not be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment” 

The above article states that a state election commissioner will be appointment and tenure of his office can direct as in the law made by the state legislature and his removal will be same as the Chief Justice of High court, that means, to remove a state election commissioner, the removal discussion should undergo in both the houses of the parliament and should pass with at least 2/3rd majority.

•  His conditions of service and tenure of office shall also be determined by the governor. 

•  He shall not be removed from the office except in the manner and on the grounds prescribed for the removal of a judge of the state high court. 

•  His conditions of service shall not be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment. 

•  The state legislature may make provision with respect to all matters relating to elections to the panchayats.

•  Courts cannot interfere in the conduct of polls to local bodies and self-government institutions once the electoral process has been set in motion.

9.  G.C. Murmu takes charge as new CAG

Appointment and Oath

•  The CAG is appointed by the President under his hand and seal. He can’t be removed from his office except in like manner and on grounds as of a judge of SC.

•  Every person to be appointed as CAG shall make and subscribe before president an oath

Term and Conditions of Service

•  The salary and other conditions of service of CAG shall be such as may determined by Parliament by law. Provided that neither salary of CAG or nor his rights in relation to leave of absence, pension or age of retirement shall be varied to his disadvantage after appointment.

•  The CAG of India holds office for term of 6yrs or until attains age of 65yrs whichever is earlier as per law of Parliament (CAG DPC Act 1971). The office of CAG becomes vacant if he resigns or removed by Parliament only on grounds as of Judge of SC or he has completed his term.

•  Removal – The resolution of his removal shall be passed by special majority in both houses of Parliament. But such resolution is subjected to an inquiry made by committee of 3 members (SC judge, CJ of HC and eminent jurist). If CAG found guilty only on grounds of ‘proved misbehaviour’ or ‘incapacity’ in that inquiry then voting on resolution is permissible.

•  The CAG is not eligible for further office either under Govt of India or any state after he ceases to hold office.

•  The administrative expenses of office of the CAG including salaries, pensions or allowances to him or persons working in that office shall be charged upon Consolidated Fund of India.

Shri V Narahari Rao, was the first Comptroller and Auditor General of India (1948-1954). Rajiv Mehrishi is the present CAG of India. 

Functions and power of CAG:

•  CAG suggests the account keeping of union and state with the approval of president. It exercises power in relation to account of union and state or any other enterprise funded by GOI as may be prescribed by law made by parliament.

•  The CAG reports to the president and governors regarding the accounts of union and state respectively. In 1976 the accounting is separated from auditing form the CAG’s duty. Now accounting is done by other agencies.

•  It audits all expenditure and receipts from consolidated fund of India and of the states and union territories. It audits all balance sheets of other subsidiary account kept in department stores and stocks of all the government offices. 

•  It audits the accounts of all government companies act setup under the companies act 1956 also includes the central government corporation. 

•  It also audits authorities and body substantially funded by the CFI and account of those authorities which are not funded by government, at the request of president and governor or CAG’s own initiative

10.  Preventive detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA) 

What is preventive detention?

•  Under Section 151 of The Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) preventive detention is action taken on grounds of suspicion that some wrong actions may be done by the person concerned.

•  A police officer can arrest an individual without orders from a Magistrate and without any warrant if he gets any information that such an individual can commit any offense

What is the difference between preventive detention and an arrest?

•  An ‘arrest’ is done when a person is charged with a crime. An arrested person is produced before a magistrate within the next 24 hours.

•  In case of preventive detention, a person is detained as he/she is  simply restricted from doing something that might deteriorate the law and order situation.

What is the PSA?

•  The Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 is a preventive detention law, under which a person is taken into custody to prevent him or her from acting in any manner that is prejudicial to “the security of the state or the maintenance of the public order”. It is very similar to the National Security Act that is used by other state governments for preventive detention.

•  By definition, preventive detention is meant to be preventive, not punitive. This broad definition is the most common ground used by a law-enforcement agency when it slaps the PSA on an individual. It comes into force by an administrative order passed either by Divisional Commissioner or the District Magistrate, and not by an detention order by police based on specific allegations or for specific violation of laws.

Why is it considered draconian?

•  The PSA allows for detention of a person without a formal charge and without trial. It can be slapped on a person already in police custody; on someone immediately after being granted bail by a court; or even on a person acquitted by the court. Detention can be up to two years.

•  Unlike in police custody, a person who is detained under the PSA need not be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours of the detention. The detained person does not have the right to move a bail application before a criminal court, and cannot engage any lawyer to represent him or her before the detaining authority.

•  The only way this administrative preventive detention order can be challenged is through a habeas corpus petition filed by relatives of the detained person. The High Court and the Supreme Court have the jurisdiction to hear such petitions and pass a final order seeking quashing of the PSA. However, if the order is quashed, there in no bar on the government passing another detention order under the PSA and detaining the person again.

•  The District Magistrate who has passed the detention order has protection under the Act, which states that the order is considered “done in good faith”. Therefore, there can no be prosecution or any legal proceeding against the official who has passed the order. Also, after an amendment last year by the Governor, persons detained under the PSA in Jammu & Kashmir can now be detained in jails outside the state.

What happens once the PSA is slapped?

•  Generally, when a person is detained under the PSA, the DM communicates to the person within five days, in writing, the reason for the detention. In exceptional circumstances, the DM can take 10 days to communicate these grounds. This communication is important because it is on the basis of it that the detained person gets an opportunity of making a representation against the order. However, the DM also has the discretion not to disclose all the facts on the basis of which the detention is ordered, if he or she thinks that these facts are against “public interest”.

•  The DM has to place the detention order within four weeks before an advisory board, consisting of three members including a chairperson who is a former judge of the High Court. The DM also has to place the representation made by the detained person. The detained person too can make a representation before this advisory board.

•  Within the sixth week from the date of detention, the board submits its report to the government, which will determine if the detention is in public interest. This report is binding on the government.

What constitutional safeguards are guaranteed to a person so detained?

•  Article 22(a) of the Constitution states that no person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest, nor shall he be denied the right to consult, and to be defended by, a legal practitioner of his choice. Article 22(b) states that every person arrested and detained shall be produced before the nearest magistrate within a period of 24 hours (excluding the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the court) and no such person shall be detained beyond this period without the authority of a magistrate.

•  However, Article 22(3)(b) allows for preventive detention and restriction on personal liberty for reasons of state security and public order. The Supreme Court has held that in order to prevent “misuse of this potentially dangerous power, the law of preventive detention has to be strictly construed and meticulous compliance with the procedural safeguards… is mandatory and vital”. Therefore, the DM has to show that the detention order follows the procedure established by law; any violation of these procedural safeguards is to be termed violation of constitutional rights.

•  Over the years, the Supreme Court has held that while detaining a person under the PSA, the DM is under a legal obligation to analyse all the circumstances and material before depriving that person of his or her personal liberty.

•  It has also held that when a person already under police custody is slapped with the PSA, the DM has to record “compelling reasons” for detaining that person. 

•  While the DM can detain a person multiple times under the PSA, he or she has to produce fresh facts while passing the subsequent detention order. 

•  And all the material on the basis of which the detention order has been passed, the Supreme Court has held, should be provided to the detained person for making an effective representation; and the grounds of detention has to explained and communicated to the person in the language understood by the detained person. 

•  If these are not followed by the DM, it can be made the grounds, before the High Court, for quashing of a detention order.

11.  Public Interest Litigation (PIL) 

•  Public interest litigation is the use of the law to advance human rights and equality, or raise issues of broad public concern.

•  Public interest litigation is most commonly used to challenge the decisions of public authorities by judicial review.  Judicial review is a form of court proceeding in which a judge reviews the lawfulness of a decision or action, or a failure to act, by a public body. Judicial review is concerned with whether the law has been correctly applied, and the right procedures have been followed. 

•  Public interest cases may arise from both public and private law matters. 

What are its objectives?

•  To safeguard the Public Interest, Human Rights and to protect Constitutional and Legal rights of the disadvantaged and weaker section of the society. (For e.g. environmental, labour and prisoners etc.)

•  To ensure, observance of the provisions of the constitution and other laws. It is essentially a co-operative or collaborative effort on the part of petitioner, the state, public authority and the court to secure observance of the constitutional or legal rights, benefits and privileges conferred upon the weaker section of the society. 

•  Public Interest Litigation is a device by filing a PIL are entitled to and seek enforcement of public duty and observance of the constitutional law or legal provisions. Such litigation only for redressal of a public injury, enforcement of a public duty or vindicating interest o the public nature and it is necessary that the petition is not field for personal gain or private motive or for other extraneous consideration and is field bona fide in public interest. 

•  Intervention of the court may be sought by way of PIL in cases where the existing rules and standards are not complied with due to indifference towards a particular group, unjustly denying them any legal entitlements or resulting in unfair and hostile treatment. Public Interest Litigation provides the platform for projecting social values for those who do not have a formal access or voice in the policy-making process.

•  A PIL can be filed against a state or central government, municipal authorities, but not any private party. However, a ‘Private Party’ can be included in the PIL as ‘Respondent’, after making concerned state authority, a party.

A PIL can be filed when the following conditions are fulfilled 

1. There must be a public injury and public wrong caused by the wrongful act or omission of the state or public authority. 

2. It is for the enforcement of basic human rights of weaker sections of the community who are exploited, ignorant and whose fundamental and constitutional rights have been violated. 

3. It must not be false litigation by persons having vested interests. 

A Public Interest Litigation can be filed only against a State and Central Government, Municipal Authorities, and not any private party.

What are the matters generally included in the PIL?

•  Bonded labours matters.

•  Matters of neglected children

•  Exploitation of casual labourers and non-payment of wages of them ( except in individual cases)

•  Mattes of harassment or torture of persons belonging to schedule castes, schedule tribes and economically backward classes, either by co-villagers or by police.

•  Matters relating to environmental pollution disturbance of ecological balance, drugs food adulteration, maintenance of heritage and culture, antiques, forest and wild life.

•  Petitions from riot victims

•  Other matters of public importance.

PILs are usually not allowed in criminal matters, because criminal litigation is exclusively between state and respondent and nobody has right to interfere by way of PIL as it would hamper course of justice and cause prejudice to accused denying them a  fair trial. Also PIL are not entertainment in service matters.

Recommendations for its regulations

To regulate the abuse of PIL the apex court itself has framed certain guidelines. These are:

•  The court must be careful to see that the petitioner who approaches it is acting bona fide and not for personal gain, private profit or political or other oblique considerations. 

•  The court should not allow its process to be abused by politicians and others to delay legitimate administrative action or to gain political objectives. At present, the court can treat a letter as a writ petition and take action upon it. But, it is not every letter which may be treated as a writ petition by the court. The court would be justified in treating the letter as a writ petition only in the following cases-

(i)  It is only where the letter is addressed by an aggrieved person or

(ii)  a public spirited individual or

(iii)  a social action group for enforcement of the constitutional or the legal rights of a person in custody or of a class or group of persons who by reason of poverty, disability or socially or economically disadvantaged position find it difficult to approach the court for redress. 

12.  Lok Adalat

•  Lok Adalat is one of the alternative dispute redressal mechanisms, it is a forum where disputes/cases pending in the court of law or at pre-litigation stage are settled/ compromised amicably. 

•  Lok Adalats have been given statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. 

•  Under the said Act, the award (decision) made by the Lok Adalats is deemed to be a decree of a civil court and is final and binding on all parties and no appeal against such an award lies before any court of law. 

•  If the parties are not satisfied with the award of the Lok Adalat though there is no provision for an appeal against such an award, but they are free to initiate litigation by approaching the court of appropriate jurisdiction by filing a case by following the required procedure, in exercise of their right to litigate.

•  There is no court fee payable when a matter is filed in a Lok Adalat. If a matter pending in the court of law is referred to the Lok Adalat and is settled subsequently, the court fee originally paid in the court on the complaints/petition is also refunded back to the parties. 

•  The persons deciding the cases in the Lok Adalats are called the Members of the Lok Adalats, they have the role of statutory conciliators only and do not have any judicial role; therefore they can only persuade the parties to come to a conclusion for settling the dispute outside the court in the Lok Adalat and shall not pressurize or coerce any of the parties to compromise or settle cases or matters either directly or indirectly. 

•  The Lok Adalat shall not decide the matter so referred at its own instance, instead the same would be decided on the basis of the compromise or settlement between the parties. The members shall assist the parties in an independent and impartial manner in their attempt to reach amicable settlement of their dispute.

Lok Adalats have competence to deal with a number of cases like: 

· Compoundable civil, revenue and criminal cases. 

· Motor accident compensation claims cases 

· Partition Claims 

· Damages Cases 

· Matrimonial and family disputes 

· Mutation of lands case 

· Land Pattas cases 

· Bonded Labour cases 

· Land acquisition disputes 

· Bank’s unpaid loan cases 

· Arrears of retirement benefits cases 

· Family Court cases 

· Cases which are not sub-judice

National Lok Adalat

National Level Lok Adalats are held for at regular intervals where on a single day Lok Adalats are held throughout the country, in all the courts right from the Supreme Court till the Taluk Levels wherein cases are disposed off in huge numbers. 

Permanent Lok Adalat

The other type of Lok Adalat is the Permanent Lok Adalat, organized under Section 22-B of The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. Permanent Lok Adalats have been set up as permanent bodies with a Chairman and two members for providing compulsory pre-litigative mechanism for conciliation and settlement of cases relating to Public Utility Services like transport, postal, telegraph etc. Here, even if the parties fail to reach to a settlement, the Permanent Lok Adalat gets jurisdiction to decide the dispute, provided, the dispute does not relate to any offence. Further, the Award of the Permanent Lok Adalat is final and binding on all the parties. The jurisdiction of the Permanent Lok Adalats is upto Rs. Ten Lakhs. Here if the parties fail to reach to a settlement, the Permanent Lok Adalat has the jurisdiction to decide the case. 

Mobile Lok Adalats 

These are also organized in various parts of the country which travel from one location to another to resolve disputes in order to facilitate the resolution of disputes through this mechanism.

Benefits of Lok Adalat

The benefits that litigants derive through the Lok Adalats are many.

a)   First, there is no court fee and even if the case is already filed in the regular court, the fee paid will be refunded if the dispute is settled at the Lok Adalat.

b)   Secondly, there is no strict application of the procedural laws and the Evidence Act while assessing the merits of the claim by the Lok Adalat. 

c)  Thirdly, disputes can be brought before the Lok Adalat directly instead of going to a regular court first and then to the Lok Adalat.

d)   Fourthly, the decision of the Lok Adalat is binding on the parties to the dispute and its order is capable of execution through legal process. 

e)  Last but not the least, provides faster and inexpensive remedy with legal status.

13.  Defence Production & Export Promotion Policy (DPEPP) 2020

Over the years, the Department of Defence Production (DDP), Ministry of Defence, Government of India has facilitated establishment of wide-ranging production facilities of various defence equipment through Ordnance Factories and Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and, from the year 2001, through licensed private sector companies. This has resulted in the development of a diverse range of products such as arms and ammunitions, tanks, armored vehicles, heavy vehicles, fighter aircrafts and helicopters, warships, submarines, missiles, ammunition, electronic equipment, earth moving equipment, special alloys and special purpose steels.

In order to provide impetus to self-reliance in defence manufacturing, multiple announcements were made under ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Package’. In implementing such framework and to position India amongst the leading countries of the world in defence and aerospace sectors, Ministry of Defence (MoD) has formulated a draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy 2020 (DPEPP 2020). The DPEPP 2020 is envisaged as overarching guiding document of MoD to provide a focused, structured and significant thrust to defence production capabilities of the country for self-reliance and exports.

The policy has laid out following goals and objectives:

1.  To achieve a turnover of Rs 1,75,000 Crores (US$ 25Bn) including export of Rs 35,000 Crore (US$ 5 Billion) in Aerospace and Defence goods and services by 2025.

2.  To develop a dynamic, robust and competitive Defence industry, including Aerospace and Naval Shipbuilding industry to cater to the needs of Armed forces with quality products.

3.  To reduce dependence on imports and take forward "Make in India" initiatives through domestic design and development.

4.  To promote export of defence products and become part of the global defence value chains.

5.  To create an environment that encourages R&D, rewards innovation, creates Indian IP ownership and promotes a robust and self-reliant defence industry.

The Policy brings out multiple strategies under the following focus areas:

1.  Procurement Reforms

•  A negative list of weapons/platforms would be notified with year-wise timelines for placing an embargo on import of such items from those dates

•  a Project Management Unit (PMU), with representation from the Services, would be set up to support the acquisition process and facilitate management of the contracts. This setup would bring in expertise to the process of acquisition as well as create focus and synergy in building military capabilities.

•  With self- reliance as the motto, aim is to move away from licensed production to Design, Develop and produce wherein the Nation owns the Design Rights and IP of the systems.

2.  Indigenization & Support to MSMEs/Startups

•  An indigenization portal will be developed for DPSUs/OFB/Services with an industry interface to provide development support to MSMEs/Startups/Industry for import substitution.

3.  Optimize Resource Allocation

•  OFB/DPSUs will be mandated to increase productivity, enhance quality, reduce costs and ensure timely execution of orders by optimizing inventory management, greater vendor outsourcing at all levels, improving skill levels and overall project management.

4.  Investment Promotion, FDI & Ease of Doing Business

•  The two Defence Corridors set up in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh would be specifically targeted by providing additional support as well as by offering higher multipliers for offset discharge for investments flowing into the Defence Corridors.

5.  Innovation and R&D

•  Defence Research & Innovation lies at the heart of development of cutting-edge technologies and systems. By harnessing the nationwide R&D capabilities, future requirements of the services could be met and critical gaps in related technologies would get addressed.

6.  DPSUs and OFB

•  Ordnance factories will be corporatized to make them competitive and to improve their productivity.

•  Focus would be laid for modernization and technological upgradation in coordination with Services/DRDO.

7.  Quality Assurance & Testing Infrastructure

•  The entire process of quality assurance and its time bound delivery would be rationalized and monitored by developing an IT platform with an industry interface.

8.  Export Promotion

•  Export Promotion Cell set up to promote Defence exports through coordinated action to support the Industry would be further strengthened and professionalized.

•  Defence Expo and Aero India will be positioned as major global events to showcase India’s capabilities in defence manufacturing, and also to encourage exports.

Defence Acquisition Council

A Defence Acquisitions Council has been created as an overarching structure with the following composition:- Chairman: Raksha Mantri (RM)

FUNCTIONS 

The DAC will perform the following functions: 

(a) Give ‘in principle’ approval to Capital acquisitions in the Long Term Perspective Plan (LTPP) covering a 15-year time span at the beginning of a Five Year Plan period. (The approval will, in particular, identify the ‘Make’ projects in the Perspective Plan where long gestation periods are involved). 

(b) Give ‘in principle’ acceptance of necessity to each Capital acquisition project for incorporation in the forthcoming Five Year Plan, at least nine months before the commencement of the first year of that plan. The approval will involve the identification of Either - ‘Buy’ Projects (outright purchase) Or - ‘Buy and Make’ projects (purchase followed by licensed production/ indigenous development) Or - ‘Make’ Projects (indigenous production and R&D) 

(c) Monitor the progress of major projects on a feedback from the Defence Procurement Board. The DAC will meet as required. The approval in principle should be seen as first step in the process of ‘acceptance of necessity’ by the concerned Administrative Wing in MoD in consultation with Defence(Finance) and as a recommendation for eventual consideration of FM/CCS (as required). The decision of RM based on DAC deliberations will flow down from implementation to Defence Procurement Board, Defence Production Board and Defence R&D Board.

14.  Accredited Social Health Activists

In order to provide effective healthcare to the rural population, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) by government of India proposed introduction of female health workers village level. These workers are called Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and their role is to act at an interface between the community and the government healthcare services. 

In rural areas

•  There is one Community Health Volunteer i.e. ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) for every village with a population of 1000. The States have been given the flexibility to relax the population norms as well as the educational qualifications on a case to case basis, depending on the local conditions as far as her recruitment is concerned.

In urban areas

•  Prior to the selection of ASHA it is important that City/ District health Society undertakes mapping of the city/urban areas with vulnerability assessment of the people living in slums or slum like situations and identifies these “slum/vulnerable clusters” for selection of ASHA.

•  The general norm for selecting ASHA in urban area will be ‘‘One ASHA for every 1000-2500 population”. Since houses in urban context are generally located within a very small geographic area an ASHA can cover about 200-500 households depending upon the spatial consideration.

•  When the population covered increases to more than 2500 another ASHA can be engaged. 

Roles and responsibilities

The role of an ASHA is that of a community level care provider. This includes a mix of tasks: 

•  facilitating access to health care services, 

•  building awareness about health care entitlements especially amongst the poor and marginalized, 

•  promoting healthy behaviours and mobilizing for collective action for better health outcomes 

•  meeting curative care needs as appropriate to the organization of service delivery in that area and compatible with her training and skills.

The role of ASHA Facilitators is broadly summarized as under:

•  Conduct village visits (comprising of accompanying ASHA on household visits, conducting community/VHSNC meetings, attending Village Health and Nutrition Days).

•  Conduct cluster meetings of all ASHAs in the area once a month.

•  Enable ASHAs in reaching the most marginalized households.

•  Support ASHA training at the block level.

•  Facilitate selection of new ASHAs.

•  Facilitate grievance redressal.