BHOPAL: Tribal-dominated districts are emerging as a major hub for underweight and malnourished children in Madhya Pradesh, which according to the 2011 census has the highest tribal population of any state in India.
According to information shared by the state’s Minister for Women and Child Development, Nirmala Bhuria, in the Vidhan Sabha recently, over 62.88 lakh children are enrolled in Anganwadi centres across the state, with more than 5.41 lakh (8.60%) classified as underweight.
Importantly, all five districts with the highest number of underweight children in Anganwadi centres are tribal-dominated. These include Dhar, Khargone, and Barwani (located in western and southwestern Madhya Pradesh, home to the Bhil and Bhilala tribes), as well as Chhindwara and Balaghat (which have significant Gond tribe populations).
Dhar tops the list, with 35,950 underweight children, or 16.31% of the 2.20 lakh children enrolled in Anganwadis. It is followed by Khargone, where 24,596 children, or 14.90% of the 1.71 lakh-plus enrolment, are underweight. The neighbouring district of Barwani ranks third, with 21,940 underweight children, or 12.73% of the total 1.72 lakh-plus enrolment.
In her written reply to BJP MLA Mohan Singh Rathore’s query on the issue, the woman cabinet minister further mentioned that Chhindwara ranked fourth, with 17,013 underweight children, or 11.23% of the more than 1.51 lakh children in Anganwadi centres. Balaghat followed in fifth place, with 15,801 underweight children, or 11.35% of the total 1.39 lakh-plus enrolment.
The other five districts with a significant number of underweight kids in Anganwadi centres, included Shivpuri, Morena (both in the Gwalior-Chambal region), Chhatarpur (Bundelkhand region) Katni (in Mahakoshal-Vindhya region) and Khandwa (southwestern MP).
While CM Dr Mohan Yadav’s home district Ujjain had 12,039 underweight kids (which was 7.58% of the 1.58 lakh kids enrolled), the state capital Bhopal had 12,199 underweight kids (which was 8.05% of the 1.51 lakh kids), Indore had 11,437 underweight kids (6.97% of the 1.63 lakh kids), Jabalpur had 11,781 underweight kids (7.77% of the 1.51 lakh plus kids) and Gwalior had lowest number among the four major cities with 7672 underweight children (which 5.27% of the total 1.45 lakh kids in Anganwadi centres of the district).
Niwari district of Bundelkhand region had the lowest number of underweight kids, with 1438 underweight kids, though it formed a whopping 42.39% of the total 33,920 kids enrolled in the Anganwadi centres there.
The information shared by the WCD minister about underweight children in Anganwadi centres across the state comes approximately 10 months after a similar update from the same minister regarding the number of malnourished children, including those suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the state.
According to the data tabled by the state government in Vidhan Sabha in February, over 1.36 lakh kids were then registered as malnourished in Madhya Pradesh. Out of the total 1,36,252 malnourished kids, 29,830 or 22% were severely acute malnourished (SAM), and the remaining 1,06,422 or 78% were moderately acute malnourished (MAM).
The majority of the total 1.36 lakh-plus malnourished kids in the state lived in the tribal-dominated districts.
The data on malnourished children registered under the Mukhyamantri Bal Arogya Samvardhan Program until January 30, 2024, shows that the western and south-western districts of Madhya Pradesh, dominated by the Bhil and Bhilala tribes, have a higher number of children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM). In contrast, the eastern and south-eastern districts, home to the Gond, Kol, Baiga, and Bharia tribes, have more children with moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) and total malnutrition.
The 11 districts of eastern and southeastern Madhya Pradesh account for 34,490 children with SAM and MAM, making up around 25% of the state's total. Meanwhile, the ten districts in the western and southwestern regions have 32,306 such children, or 23% of the state's total.
While the 11 eastern and southeastern districts housed more moderate acute malnourished (MAM) kids with the number standing at 27,190 (26% of total MAM kids in the state), the ten western and southwestern MP districts housed 24,205 MAM kids which is 23% of the total MAM kids in the state.
On the other hand, the western MP districts, part of the Indore and Ujjain regions, had more SAM children than the eastern and south-eastern districts. The 11 western and southwestern districts recorded 8,101 SAM children, making up 27% of the total 29,830 SAM children registered under the dedicated program for malnourished children.
Furthermore, districts home to the three particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) - the Baiga, Bharia, and Saharia tribes - reported significant numbers of both SAM and MAM children.
The five top districts housing MAM kids, included Chhindwara (7763 kids), Dhar (7313 kids), Barwani (5095 MAM kids), Rewa (3986 kids) and Satna (3921 kids). While, the top five districts housing the maximum number of SAM kids, included Dhar (2411 kids), Chhindwara (1864 kids), Barwani (1513 kids), Rewa (1453 kids) and Satna (1136 kids).
Among the districts housing the particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs), the Bharia tribe dominant Chhindwara had 1864 SAM and 7763 MAM kids registered under the state government’s program.
Among the eastern MP districts housing the other PVTG – Baiga tribe – Mandla had 491 SAM and 1671 MAM kids, Dindori had 406 SAM/992 MAM kids and Shahdol had 552 SAM/2145 MAM kids.
Similarly, among the third PVTG – Saharia tribe - populated districts of Gwalior-Chambal region, Guna had 472 SAM/2726 MAM kids, Bhind had 724 SAM/2090 MAM kids, while Morena had 691 SAM/2219 MAM kids.
Among the big cities/districts with a large population, Bhopal district had 2547 MAM and 710 SAM kids, the most populated district Indore had 3015 MAM and 587 SAM kids, Jabalpur had 2398 MAM and 691 SAM kids, Gwalior had 2178 MAM and 485 SAM kids and Sagar had 1889 MAM and 554 SAM kids.
The CM Dr Mohan Yadav’s home district Ujjain too had 2880 MAM and 571 SAM kids, as per data which pertained to January 2024.
Importantly, the Mukhyamantri Bal Arogya Samvardhan Program dedicated to children was launched in 2021-2022 by the then Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.