BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh’s initiatives to strengthen maternal and newborn healthcare have received national recognition, with ‘Suman Panchayat’ and ‘Suman Sakhi’, an AI-powered chatbot, being recognised as best practices and scalable interventions for adoption by other states.
The AI-powered initiative was introduced by Dr Saloni Sidana, Director of the National Health Mission, Madhya Pradesh, a 2014-batch IAS officer, to improve women’s access to essential health information. The chatbot operates round the clock in Hindi, providing pregnant women with information on antenatal care, high-risk conditions, and relevant government and welfare schemes.
The Suman Panchayat initiative is a village-level community governance model under India’s national SUMAN Roadmap 2030 (Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan), which aims to achieve zero maternal deaths, zero deaths among children under five, elimination of measles and rubella, 100% institutional deliveries and timely childhood immunisation.
The initiatives were showcased at the National Workshop on SUMAN Roadmap 2030, held in Lucknow on September 2 and 3. Suman Panchayat focuses on community participation in maternal and newborn healthcare, while Suman Sakhi uses digital technology to provide women and their families with easy access to essential health information.
Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla, who holds the Public Health and Medical Education portfolios, welcomed the recognition, calling it a matter of pride for Madhya Pradesh. He said maternal and child health remains a top priority of the state government, which is working to provide pregnant women and newborns with safe, accessible and quality healthcare. He said the state was also promoting community participation, digital technology and data-driven monitoring to strengthen health services.
At the workshop, the two initiatives were presented before representatives of various states, highlighting their potential to improve community engagement, access to maternal and newborn health information and utilisation of healthcare services. Their recognition as scalable interventions is expected to facilitate their adoption by other states according to local requirements. The Madhya Pradesh delegation included NHM Director Sidana and other senior health officials.
The initiatives have also been included in the SUMAN Roadmap 2030 guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, providing an opportunity for the successful models to be adapted beyond Madhya Pradesh.
Suman Panchayat seeks to make maternal and newborn health a shared community responsibility by involving gram panchayats and local communities in awareness activities and discussions on antenatal check-ups, institutional deliveries, postnatal and newborn care. Under the Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan Panchayat initiative, a gram panchayat maintaining zero maternal and infant deaths for one continuous year receives a Rs 1 lakh incentive**.
The Suman Sakhi chatbot provides information on pregnancy, childbirth, newborn care and available health services, helping bridge the information gap between women, families and the public health system.
The workshop also featured the Anmol 2.0 dashboard, developed to identify, track and follow up on high-risk pregnant women (HRP). It integrates key information for monitoring by frontline and supervisory officials, with a particular focus on ensuring institutional deliveries. Timely identification and follow-up help facilitate referrals to higher-level facilities when required and reduce risks associated with childbirth.