In Assam, Rural Health Practitioners, RHP, have achieved remarkable success in providing basic health-care facilities in the remote areas since June 2009. Talking to AIR, Mission Director of State NRHM said that RHPs have played a pivotal role in reducing the infant and maternal mortality rates at the grassroots level. He further added that Assam is the only state to successfully implement the RHP scheme . He added the Centre is also likely to apply it across the country. AIR Correspondent reports that state health department will appoint another 90 Rural Health Practitioners at Sub-Centers by July this year.Assam Government introduced the Assam Rural Health Regulatory Act in 2004 under which a three-year diploma course in medicine and rural health care was started to make up for shortage of doctors in villages. At the first stage, 261 RHP’s were appointed at the same number of Sub-Centers. With the appointment of RHPs, the institutional deliveries have started in Sub-Centers. Earlier, pregnant women in rural areas had to conduct deliveries at periphery level. They conducted over 3 thousand deliveries at Sub-centres in the last two and half year, thus enabling those rural women to avail the benefit of Janani Suraksha Yojna scheme. Apart from conducting deliveries, they have dealt with cases of other ailments. They have handled around 9 lakh OPD cases. It is a boon for the rural people who earlier needed to travel at least 5-6 miles to primary health centers for any treatments, reports AIR Correspondent.