In 1995, the Human Development Report focussed upon gender disparity highlighting that women receive unequal treatment all over the world. The need to integrate women into development, without which no country can lay claim to development, was internationally proclaimed in the 1995 Beijing conference. Although there have been successes in improving the health of women and children worldwide, there remain an unfinished agenda of unnecessary, preventable deaths, illness and disability that disproportionately affects poor women and children especially in the rural areas of developing regions of the world. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 80 percent of world's population may rely on traditional medicine as its primary source of medical care including advice and assistance during pregnancy, infant and child health, and maternal health Keeping this in mind the early interventions to improve the health of women and children need to be integrated into the care provided by ANM. In the governmental rural health set up the ANM is the health functionary closest to the community. ANM is found at sub-center along with multipurpose health worker (MPHW) who deals mainly with malaria, sanitation and to a small extent family welfare. The domain of ANM usually consists of half a dozen villages-one of which is sub-center village, visits to villages and houses, providing services, giving medicines, tendering advice to men, women and children, keeping touch with PHC/CHC and even district hospital, attending meetings, procuring essential supplies and performing other odd jobs. The present paper examines the role of ANM in reproductive and child health. At the same time an attempt has been made to understand and explore the problems faced by them. The data have been analyzed from RCH- Rapid Household Survey conducted in 1998. The analysis of data shall be exploratory to provide some explanation for overburdening of ANM and their role in the reproductive and child health services in rural India and some policy measures to solve the problems and improve reproductive and child health in rural India The demographic significance of such changes is explained and the associations between socioeconomic characteristics and contraceptive prevalence have been described. The importance of ANM in rural health has been highlighted. The paper concludes with some health policy reflections and emphasizes the potential importance ANM in improving health in rural India. Health Policy aimed at improving health should certainly include efforts to provide ANM in each and every village or some trained male and female volunteers from villages It is these factors which, are often overlooked in the planning, funding and services to rural areas. Rural health programs must change from being dependent on demand to being based on active offer of preventive measures. The active offer must be sustained by non-standardized communication procedures with the aim of providing empowerment of involved people. ANM is the primary caregivers in India. They have demonstrated bold leadership under extreme adversity. Consequently when empowered and involved