In Bhubaneswar, a city in India's Odisha state, the system meant to keep family planning clinics stocked with contraceptives was barely being used. The Family Planning Logistics Management Information System (FPLMIS), the government platform that tracks how commodities are requested, received, and used across health facilities, sat mostly dormant when The Challenge Initiative (TCI) began working in the city in 2023. Out of 44 urban health facilities, only a small number logged in with any regularity, leaving the supply chain to run on paper records and institutional memory instead of real-time data.
The root of the problem wasn't a lack of training so much as a lack of access. Auxiliary nurse midwives, accredited social health activists, and staff at Urban Health and Wellness Centers—the people actually distributing and using contraceptive supplies day to day—had largely been shut out of the digital system itself. Without direct participation from the frontline, nobody was tracking indenting or utilization consistently, and gaps in the supply chain went unnoticed until they became shortages.
How TCI Approached the Supply Chain Mangement Issue
TCI, working alongside Odisha's State Family Planning Cell, approached the fix as a systems issue. After mapping exactly where facilities and workers were falling out of the process, the team built a plan around two moves: giving every facility and every frontline worker their own individual login credentials, and running capacity-building sessions to make sure people knew what to do with that access. Ongoing supportive supervision, mentoring visits, and repeated follow-up kept the effort from stalling once the initial push ended.
The timing mattered too. As Odisha began shifting from FPLMIS to a newer platform, the Drug and Vaccine Distribution Management System (DVDMS), TCI and its master coaches stayed involved to provide technical support through the migration, so the habits built around FPLMIS wouldn't be lost in the transition.
The results came fast: within three quarters, FPLMIS utilization for indenting, acknowledgment, and utilization in Bhubaneswar climbed from 33% to 100%, with all 44 facilities and their frontline staff actively using the system. Supply tracking became more accurate and transparent, stock-outs became far less likely, and accountability across the chain improved alongside it.
Recognition for Improvements
The city's turnaround was recognized publicly: at Odisha's State World Population Day 2026 celebrations, Bhubaneswar's District Vaccine and Logistics Manager, Biswamita Dash, won 3rd Prize for Best Performing DVLM in the state (pictured). "Our focus was to make FPLMIS a system owned by everyone, from facilities to frontline workers," she said. "Through continuous capacity building, follow-up, and support from TCI, we achieved 100% utilization, ensuring that no facility faces gaps in family planning commodities."
The lesson from Bhubaneswar solidifies a lesson that the William H. Gates Sr. Institute has learned across its health systems work: technology alone doesn't fix access problems, but technology paired with local ownership and sustained coaching does. As one of the Institute's own platform, TCI's approach of handing frontline workers the tools and authority to manage their own supply chain rather than managing it for them reflects the Institute's broader commitment to locally-led, evidence-based programming that keeps family planning services reliable long after outside support winds down.
