Dr. Heera Lal, IAS, Additional Mission Director, National Health Mission, UP
IAS Dr. Heera Lal is an Additional Mission Director of National Health Mission, UP. He is also the additional project director of UP State’s Aids Control Society. He is the founder of Model Gaon/Village in UP.
Podcast
Overview
We often discuss the governance loopholes in tackling the problems of the general public. But the solution to the majority of the problems lies with the general public. What the administrators need to realize is the power of the public and tap into their potential to solve any issue from the grassroots level.
In today’s episode of The Brand Called You, we discuss the concepts of a bottom-up approach, the power of people’s involvement, and communication in strategizing solutions for several problems. Today, we have Dr. Heera Lal, an IAS office from UP, who is a great believer in the concept.
About Dr. Heera Lal
IAS Dr. Heera Lal is an Additional Mission Director of National Health Mission, UP. He is also the additional project director of UP State’s Aids Control Society. He is the founder of Model Gaon/Village in UP. Tune in to listen to his governance approach as he manages diverse portfolios.
Discussion
Dr. Heera Lal talks about the role of an IAS officer who is trained to hold diverse portfolios. He calls IAS officers “generalists”, people who handle general management.
Dr. Lal explains that IAS officers go through two years of rigorous training where they are posted at remote locations to understand the problems and practice tackling the same. He says, “Our mindsets are wired in a way, and we work in that direction.”
He further talks about the National Health Mission. It is a brainchild of the Central Government, and Dr. Lal handles the society’s operations in Uttar Pradesh. He explains that IAS officers work to facilitate coordination between the Central Government funding and implementing agencies in different states. He goes a breakdown of the organizational structure.
Adopting Technology for COVID Vaccination
Uttar Pradesh made an impressionable record by ensuring vaccination to the remotest of the villages during the pandemic. Dr. Lal explains the need of adopting technology at the time. He also talks about the flow of directions and the importance of communication.
Dr. Lal explains the flow as:
- Guidelines coming from the WHO
- Medical Health Department customizing the information to suit local needs
- National Health Mission adopting the guidelines and communicating to the remotest villages
Dr. Lal explains how at the time, the Indian government readily spent money to import the best of technologies from the world to tackle COVID. He says, “We adopted indigenous and international technology and expertise. Pandemic taught us that our life is incomplete without technology.”
He also praises the role social media played in reaching the masses.
Low-Cost and No-Cost Solutions
Dr. Lal is a firm believer in devising low-cost and no-cost solutions to tackle problems. He says, “There is no political interference in 90% of the problems we have to tackle. But people hide their incapabilities in the face of 10% problems with political involvement.”
Dr. Lal’s governance is based on:
- Public Involvement
- Public Participation
- Public Leadership
He gives examples of successful public participation through solutions like water harvesting and cleaning wells.
Model Village
It is a successful initiative by Dr. Lal in his region, Banda UP with a bottom-up approach for the holistic development of the villages. He explains, “Our work showed improvements in water quality and access and crop production. We combined the results of Banda and tried to implement them in other places in a systematic manner.”
Dr. Lal is an honorary member of the Model Gaon institution and does not charge anything for his work. The concept is based on Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals of village improvement.
Profile
Dr Heera Lal, an IAS officer having rich experience of 26 years as a civil servant, is currently posted as Additional Mission Director, National Health Mission, Uttar Pradesh and Additional Project Director in UP State Aids Control Society.
He has served in various departments in different capacities. His last posting was District Magistrate, Banda where he had undertaken an array of initiatives and introduced many low cost Innovations.
