Parliament Question: Healthcare Services for Tribal Women

GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO.3443 TO BE ANSWERED ON07.08.2026 HEALTHCARE SERVICES FORTRIBALWOMEN 3443.SMT.PRIYANKAGANDHI VADRA: Will the MINISTER OFHEALTHAND FAMILYWELFAREbe pleased tostate: (a) whether the Government has evaluated the impact of existing interventions to improve maternal health among tribal women, if so, the details thereof including the key gaps identifiedinthisregard; (b) the details of institutional deliveries, anaemia among pregnant and lactating mothers and maternalmortality amongtribal women since 2019across the country; (c) whether the Government proposes to implement targeted interventions to improve access as well as the quality of prenatal and postnatal healthcare services for tribal women, especiallyParticularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), if so, the detailsthereof; and (d) the details of the initiatives taken by the Government to address undernutrition among pregnantandlactating tribal women? ANSWER THE MINISTER OFSTATE IN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SMT. ANUPRIYAPATEL) (a) Under National Health Mission (NHM), the Government assesses the impact of existing interventions toimprove maternal healthacross the countryincluding tribal women through a robust, multi-layered framework that includes review of State wise key deliverables against approved target during NPCC Meetings with all States/UTs, regular assessment of performance through the Output-Outcome Monitoring Framework (OOMF) , in addition annual Common Review Missions (CRMs) provides independent, on-ground assessments of programme implementations, healthsystem strengthening, andprogress on keyindicators. (b) The details of institutional deliveries, anaemia among pregnant and lactating mothers and maternalmortalityacross thecountryincludingtribal womensince 2019isplacedat annexure.(c) & (d) Under the National Health Mission (NHM), the Government of India implements targeted interventions to improve access, quality of prenatal & postnatal healthcare services and undernutrition among pregnant & lactating women across the country including tribal and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) women, through the following interventions:  Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) isa demand promotion andconditional cash transfer scheme for promotinginstitutional delivery.  JananiShishuSuraksha Karyakram(JSSK)entitlesallpregnantwoman delivering in public health institutions tohave absolutely free andno expense delivery, including caesarean section. The entitlements include free drugs, consumables, free diet during stay, free diagnostics, free transportation and free blood transfusion, if required. Similarentitlements are also inplace for sick infantsup toone year of age.  Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) provides pregnant women a fixed day, free of cost, assured and quality antenatal check up by a Specialist/Medical Officeronthe 9thdayof everymonth. ExtendedPMSMAstrategyensuresqualityantenatalcare (ANC)topregnantwomen, especially to high-risk pregnant (HRP) women and individual HRP tracking until a safe delivery is achieved by means of financial incentivization for the identified high- risk pregnant women and accompanying ASHA for extra 3 visits over and above the PMSMAvisit.  Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) provides assured, dignified, respectful and quality healthcare at no cost and zero tolerance for denial of services for every pregnant woman and newborn visiting public health facilities to end all preventable maternalandnewborn deaths.  OptimizingPostnatal Careaims to strengthen the quality of post-natal care by laying emphasis on detection of danger signs in mothers and incentivization of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) for prompt detection, referral & treatmentof such high-risk postpartum mothers.  Functionalization of First Referral Units (FRUs) by ensuring manpower, blood storage units, referral linkages to improve the access to quality of care for pregnant women  Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Days (VHSNDs) are observed for provision of maternal and child health services and creating awareness on maternal and child-care including nutrition in convergence with the Ministry of Women and Child Development.  Outreach camps are provisioned for improving the reach of health care services, especially in tribal and hard-to-reach areas. This platform is used to increase awareness for the Maternal & Child health services, community mobilization as well astotrackhigh-risk pregnancies.  Birth Waiting Homes (BWH) are established in remote and tribal areas to promote institutional delivery andimprove accesstohealthcarefacilities. Mother and Child Protection (MCP) Card and Safe Motherhood Booklet are distributed to the pregnant women for educating them on diet, rest, danger signs of pregnancy, benefitschemesandinstitutional deliveries.  Regular IEC/BCC is also a part of all the schemes for greater demand generation.Health and nutrition education through mass and social media is also promotedtoimprove healthy practicesandtogeneratedemandfor service uptake.  Anemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan:The Government of India hasrecently releasedthe Anemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan –Operational guidelines during the 16th Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW) meeting on 29th June 2026 to address the high prevalence of anemia through a 7X7X7 strategy, moving ahead from the older 6X6X6 strategy of Anemia Mukt Bharat programme. The seven beneficiary groups arelowbirthweightbabies(0-6 months),children(6-59 months),children(5-9 years), adolescents (10-19 years), pregnant and lactating women and women of reproductive agegroup (20-49years)inalife cycleapproach.  Provision of affordable, accessible and quality care to all Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) patient under National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission (NSCAEM) for reduction in the prevalence of SCD along with awareness creation, targeted screening in affected districts of tribal areas and counselling through collaborative efforts of Central Ministries andState Governments.  Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) is a Centrally Sponsored Maternity Benefit Scheme under which cash incentives of ₹5,000/- are provided directly to the Bank/ Post Office account of the beneficiary in Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode for the first child. The eligible beneficiaries receive the remaining cash incentive, as per approved norms, towards maternity benefit under Janani Suraksha Yojana after institutional delivery, so that on an average a woman gets ₹6,000/-. Cash incentive of ₹6,000/- is also provided under PMMVY to eligible beneficiaries for the second childsubject tothe second childbeinga girl.  The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has sanctioned 15 Centres of Competence (CoCs) across the country, aspart of itseffort toachieve the objectivesof National Mission to EliminateSickle Cell Anaemia by2047.  Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM JANMAN) has 11 critical interventions for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) families and habitations, for provision of basic facilities, including one ANM in Multi-Purpose Centers (MPCs) with basic drugs & diagnostics, up to 10 MMUs/district in PVTG areasunderNHM andsaturation of PVTGsasbeneficiaries underPMJAY.  Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DA-JGUA) aims to provide Ayushman Card to the uncovered tribal household under PMJAY and provision of MMUs to cover left-out villages under NHM in tribal majority villages and villages with significant STpopulationof Aspirational blocks.  Under National Health Mission (NHM), tribal areas have relaxed norms for establishment of healthcare infrastructure and human resources for need-based intervention.Annexure referred in reply to part (b) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Q. No 3443 to be answered on07.08.2026 Annexure The DetailsofCoverage underKeyMaternalHealthIndicators Indicator Source Status Institutional Deliveries NFHS-6(2023–24) 90.6% PregnantWomen (15–49years) NFHS-5(2019–21) 52.2% who are Anaemic (Hb <11.0g/dl) SRS(2019–21) 93 per1,00,000 live births SRS(2020–22) 88 per1,00,000 live births Maternal Mortality Ratio(MMR) SRS(2021–23) 88 per1,00,000 live births SRS(2022–24) 87 per1,00,000 live births