Upskilling of Mobile Health Teams under RBSK 2.0 for strengthening Pediatric TB screening

Pediatric tuberculosis remains a significant driver of childhood morbidity and mortality in India. According to estimates approximately 3.42 lakh children aged 0–14 years develop TB annually in India, accounting for about 6% of the total TB cases notified under National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP). Despite this substantial burden, pediatric TB continues to be underdiagnosed and underreported, with an estimated 56% gap between the number of children expected to have TB and those detected and notified. This substantial detection gap highlights the persistent challenges in identifying TB among children, which may be attributed to the often non-specific clinical presentation, paucibacillary nature of disease, difficulties in obtaining appropriate clinical specimens, and limitations in access to sensitive diagnostic tools. Under the revised Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK 2.0) Operational Guidelines (2026), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has expanded the mandate of the 4Ds framework (Defects at birth, Deficiencies, Diseases, and Developmental delays) to incorporate emerging public health priorities and infectious disease threats. This expanded mandate provides an ideal policy framework to systematically integrate pediatric TB screening into community-level child health outreach. By leveraging the existing, highly structured network of Mobile Health Teams (MHTs), the healthcare system can eliminate diagnostic blind spots without duplicating field operations. The inherent structural flexibility of RBSK 2.0 MHTs allows for the dynamic participation of different cadres of workforce, allowing NTEP community-level workforce participation based on the need.

We invite applications from Indian organizations to undertake the following activities over 6 months period:

Baseline Training Needs and KAP Assessment: Conduct an integrated baseline assessment across targeted Mobile Health Teams (MHTs) to assess operational knowledge, clinical practices, and attitudes related to pediatric TB screening, recognition of disease severity, household contact tracing, and diagnostic linkages, and identify cadre-specific training needs.
Cadre-Specific learning module development: Develop interactive, short, cadre-wise learning modules and training packages. Modules will be tailored specifically for MHT Medical Officers, MHT Paramedics (Staff Nurses/Pharmacists), and frontline community cadres (ASHAs, AWWs, School Health Ambassadors) and any other state specific cadres who are part of MHTs.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) adoption: Draft, validate, and finalize standardized SOPs detailing clear, on-the-ground operational workflows for pediatric TB screening, pediatric Household Contact Tracing (HHC), and seamless referral diagnostic linkages with NTEP.
Training plan development & execution: Use innovative, practical, and continuous learning approaches to enable on-field upskilling of MHTs with minimal disruption to routine service delivery. This may include short, focused learning and reinforcement sessions, frequent bite-sized learning, and a structured mentor–mentee/cascade approach for regular handholding, supportive supervision, and feedback to bridge the “knowing–doing” gap.
Analysis of implementation bottlenecks and recommendations for Policy: Analyze on ground implementation challenges related to paediatric TB screening metrics documenting in the form of a comprehensive project learning resource serving use to leadership of both program (NTEP & RBSK) detailing programmatic lessons, cross-programmatic coordination models between NTEP and RBSK, and actionable recommendations for pan-India scale-up.

indicates a required field.

Section I: Contact Details

Organization name

Organization’s registered address

Applicant type:

Indian nongovernmental organization legally registered with FCRA.

International organization legally registered in India.

For-profit organization with mandatory registrations (PAN, TAN, GST number) and fulfilling all statutory criteria to receive foreign funds.

Foreign Contribution Regulation Act number

Goods and Services Tax number, if applicable.

Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number, if available (guidance for creating a UEI number to be provided).

Name and title of point of contact for applicant.

Mailing address of point of contact.

Telephone number of point of contact.

Email address of point of contact.

Confirm email

Name and title of authorized signatory for grant.

Section II: Organizational Eligibility

Note your organization’s ability to meet the following:

The chief executive of the organization is willing to sign an agreement and receive funds from JSI, the Washington-based partner.

Yes

Describe your organization’s recent (last 3 years) experience managing interventions aligned with the proposed scope of work or a similar scope of work.

(1,000-character limit)

Describe your recent experience (within the last three years) in providing services to the Government of India, specifying any previous work with national programmes at the central, state, or district level, particularly the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) and the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK).

(2,000-character limit)

Section III: Proposal Description

Statement of organization’s overall strategy for implementing the activities outlined in the scope of work, considering the proposed goals, sample activities and results within the timeframe. Highlight your specific roles, key deliverables, measurable outcomes, and critical institutional learnings.

(3,000-character limit)

Describe your technical approach and methodology for conducting large scale capacity strengthening of Mobile Health Teams (MHTs) on pediatric TB screening under the RBSK 2.0. Explain your design for conducting the integrated baseline Training Needs and KAP Assessment across MHT cadres. Detail how you will formulate standardized, on-the-ground SOPs for screening in schools and Anganwadis. Finally, outline your plan to document implementation bottlenecks and synthesize programmatic learnings into a policy-ready report for CTD and RBSK leadership to support national scale-up.

(3,000-character limit)

Detail your strategy for co-designing, validating, and rolling out short, cadre-specific learning packages within the 6-month timeline. Explain how you will tailor interactive modules and job aids to the distinct operational roles of MHT Medical Officers, Paramedics, and Frontline Cadres for pediatric TB services. Describe the process for securing formal endorsement from national and state TB and RBSK nodal teams, along with your training approach to achieve over 90% coverage across target geographies without disrupting routine field outreach.

(3,000-character limit)

Describe your experience executing large-scale health system strengthening interventions across multiple state geographies. Detail your existing liaison capabilities and working relationships with the Central TB Division, State TB Cells, and RBSK program nodal teams at national, state, and district levels.

(3,000-character limit)

Describe your immediate operational readiness to launch within 15 days of award and meet grant timelines. Outline your proposed team structure and key technical roles, including Pediatric TB experts, pedagogy specialists, M&E leads, and field coordinators, highlighting their experience with state health systems. Describe the internal and external governance mechanisms you will establish for continuous coordination between District and State NTEP and RBSK authorities. Conclude with a risk mitigation matrix and adaptive management approach to address key execution risks such as inter-departmental delays and tight deadlines.

(2,000-character limit)

Download RFA

Upskilling of Mobile Health Teams under RBSK 2.0 for strengthening Pediatric TB screening (PDF, 962.07 KB)