Parliament Question: Health and Nutrition in Tribal Districts

GOVERNMENT OFINDIA MINISTRYOFHEALTHAND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENT OFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 3457 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13thMARCH, 2026 HEALTHANDNUTRITIONINTRIBALDISTRICTS 3457. SHRIJASHUBHAI BHILUBHAI RATHVA: SHRIBALYAMAMASURESH GOPINATHMHATRE: Will the Ministerof HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFAREbe pleasedtostate: (a) the details of the health and nutrition programmes implemented in tribal dominated district inthe countryduring the last three years; (b) whether recent data indicates changes in anaemia, malnutrition and maternal health indicatorsamongtribal populations; (c) if so, the details thereof along with the corrective action planned for high-burden districts of the country; and (d) the steps taken by the Government to reduce malnutrition and mortality rates in tribal- populated district of Maharashtra, particularly in Molghat, Amravati, Nandurbar and Palghar districts? ANSWER THE MINISTER OFSTATE IN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRIPRATAPRAO JADHAV) (a) to (d): The National Health Mission (NHM) provides support for improvement in health infrastructure, availability of adequate human resources in health facilities, to improve availability and accessibility to quality healthcare across the country including all tribal- dominateddistricts inthe country. Various initiatives carried out under NHM by the Government of India in the country including Maharashtra are operationalisation of Ayushman Arogya Mandir (AAM), Free Drugs Service Initiative, Free Diagnostic Service Initiative, National Ambulance Services, Mobile Medical Units, ASHAs, 24 x 7 Services and First Referral Facilities, PrimeMinister's National Dialysis Programme, various activities under Reproductive & Child Health, Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) strategy, TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan and Universal Immunizationprogramme. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is implementing Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health and Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) strategy in a life cycleapproach under NHM, which includes interventions to increase awareness and address undernutrition including calorie deficiency, protein malnutrition and reduce mortality rate across the country, including tribal-populated districts of Maharashtra, particularly in Molghat,Amravati,NandurbarandPalghardistrictsasplacedbelow:  Facility Based New-born Care: Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs)/ Special Newborn Care Units (SNCUs) are established at Medical College and District Hospital, New-born Stabilization Units (NBSUs) are established at First Referral Units (FRUs)/Community HealthCentres (CHCs)for care of sick andsmall babies.  Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is implemented at facility and community level for low birth weight/ pre-term babies. It includes early and prolonged skin-to-skin contact with the motheror family memberandexclusive andfrequent breastfeeding.  Mothers’AbsoluteAffection(MAA): Earlyinitiationandexclusive breastfeedingfor first six months and appropriate Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices are promotedunderMothers’ Absolute Affection (MAA).  Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs) are established at public health facilities where children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and medical complications are admittedfor treatment.  Lactation Management Centres are established to ensure availability of Mother’s Own Milk or safe, pasteurized Donor Human Milk for feeding of sick, preterm, lowbirth weight babies admitted in Neonatal Intensive Care Units and Special Newborn Care Units.  Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) is implemented to reduce the prevalence of anemia among six beneficiary groups - Children (6-59 months), Children (5-9 years), Adolescents (10-19 years), Women of reproductive age (15-49 years), pregnant women andlactatingmothers ina lifecycleapproach.  National Deworming Day (NDD)  Vitamin AsupplementationProgramme  Home Based New-born Care (HBNC) and Home-Based Care of Young Children(HBYC) programme  Monthly Village Health,Sanitation andNutrition Day (VHSND) Under Mission Poshan 2.0, the Government focuses on Maternal Nutrition, Infant and Young Child Feeding Norms, treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM)/ Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM)andwellnessthrough AYUSHpracticestoreduce prevalenceofwasting, stunting, anaemia and being underweight. Supplementary Nutrition is provided to children age 6 months to 6 years, pregnant women, lactating mothers and adolescent girls at Anganwadi centres as per nutrition norms, based on principles of diet diversity that provides qualityprotein,healthy fatsandmicronutrients. There are various mechanisms and survey agencies, which generate data on tribal healthcare on a periodic basis. National Family Health Survey (NFHS) provides details on major changes in anaemia, malnutrition and maternal health indicators among all the high-burden tribal districts across the country. Census of India provides population and household details including Tribal areas. National Sample Surveyprovideshousehold surveys onvarioussocio-economic subjects. The State-wise list of key indicators NFHS-5 may be extracted from belowmentionedlink: https://www.nfhsiips.in/nfhsuser/publication.php Coordination mechanisms exist between the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as well as with State Health Departments, for planning, funding and implementation of tribal health programmes to address malnutrition. Under NHM, this Ministry provides technical and financial support to the States/UTs, to strengthen the public healthcare system in rural areas, based on the proposals received in the form of Programme Implementation Plans(PIPs). Government of India providesapproval for the proposals received in the form of Record of Proceedings (RoPs) asper norms& available resources. *****