Kolkata for Mother and Child : A Case Study

This is a documentation of effective partnership that helped to improve Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) outcomes for the urban poor in Kolkata, India. This partnership was supported by the IDA financed (US$ 71.4 million) Family Welfare Urban Slums Project. The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) implemented the project using a Credit of about US$17 million. A total of 3.8 million urban poor (family income less than US$ 32 per month) from three municipal corporations (Howrah and Chandan Nagar, and part of Kolkata), and 37 smaller municipalities benefited from this partnership. The project provided basic community outreach, as well as facility based Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) services, including counseling to the urban poor. Subsequently, nonbeneficiaries (above poverty line) also received services on payment of costs at lower-than-market rate. This model has subsequently been extended to 20 more cities in the state of West Bengal with support from the Department for International Development (DFID) and IDA.