Parliament Question: Health and nutrition programme in tribal/backward areas

GOVERNMENT OFINDIA MINISTRYOFHEALTHAND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENT OFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE RAJYASABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 2803 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17thMARCH, 2026 HEALTHAND NUTRITION PROGRAMME INTRIBAL/BACKWARDAREAS 2803#SHRIDEEPAKPRAKASH: Will the Ministerof HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFAREbe pleasedtostate: (a) whether it is a fact that Government has implemented various health and nutrition programme intribal/backward dominateddistricts of the countryduring the last five years; (b) if so, the complete details of such programmes/schemes implemented in the State of Jharkhand during the last two years; and (c) whether Government has made any assessment with regard to malnutrition and maternal health indicators in tribal/backward areas of Jharkhand and if so, the complete details thereof includingactiontaken toprovide adequatefinancialsupport toimplement such programmes? ANSWER THE MINISTER OFSTATE IN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRIPRATAPRAO JADHAV) (a) to (c): 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/backwarddominated districts of Jharkhand. Various initiatives carried out under NHM by the Government of India in the country including Jharkhand 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, Prime Minister'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 cycle approach under NHM, which includes interventions to increase awareness and address undernutrition including calorie deficiency and protein malnutrition across the country, includingall tribal/backward dominateddistricts inJharkhand asplacedbelow: 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 quality protein,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 malnutrition and maternal health indicators among all the high-burden tribal/backward districts across the country including Jharkhand. Census of India provides population and household details including tribal/backward areas. National Sample Survey provides household surveys on various socio-economic subjects. The State-wise list of key indicatorsNFHS-5maybe extracted from belowmentionedlink: https://www.nfhsiips.in/nfhsuser/publication.php‘Public Health’ & ‘Hospitals’ are State subjects, hence, the primary responsibility of providing basic healthcare services to all the citizens of the country lies with respective State/UTGovernment. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare provides technical and financial support to the States/UTs to strengthen the public healthcare system, based on the proposals received in the form of Programme Implementation Plans (PIPs) underNHM. Government of India provides approval for the proposals in the form of Record of Proceedings (RoPs) as per norms & available resources. The details of RoPs issued to States/UTs including Jharkhand, are availableat following web link: https://nhm.gov.in/index1.php?lang=1&level=1&sublinkid=1377&lid=744 *****