Two recent surveys have concurred on the same alarming fact—the extremely poor maternal and menstrual health of women from particularly vulnerable tribal groups in Odisha. A comprehensive, 591-page report by Utkal University revealed that more than half the women from these groups are anaemic. It’s not surprising given that anaemia can be attributed to poor maternal healthcare during frequent pregnancies. On an average, a woman from these communities gives birth to three children, with the difference between the first and last child at about 6 years. On top, one in every four pregnant women does not receive the micro-nutrients she requires. The research found chronic malnutrition and stunting among the surveyed communities, with the average body mass index for men at 19.8 and women at 18.9. On menstrual health, it was found than more than four-fifths of the women used repurposed cloth. Another such exercise by Sambalpur University arrived at similar outcomes.
Taken together, the findings expose the failure of successive governments in translating a multitude of welfare schemes into tangible improvements in the health of particularly vulnerable tribal group members. The surveys also found about half the population of 10 such groups, out of the state’s 13, outside the workforce. Just about an eighth of them owned pucca houses. Ration cards assigned to below-poverty-line households were found among most.
Odisha houses the largest cohort among the 75 particularly vulnerable tribal groups identified across the country. It would be an understatement to demand a policy reset for these groups. The PM’s Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan promises a saturation of basic services for these communities, while the state has its own tribal welfare programmes. Yet the surveys underline the failure of both in delivering outcomes.
Maternal nutrition, antenatal care, menstrual hygiene, livelihood support and access to healthcare cannot continue to function in silos. They require a mission-mode approach backed by real-time monitoring, doorstep delivery and accountability. The state government has planned a doorstep survey of particularly vulnerable tribal households to map entitlements and scheme coverage to improve delivery of services to this severely marginalised section. It must follow up with tribe-specific policies with time-bound outcomes to make amends for the historic injustice meted out to so many Indians.