Lok Sabha Question No. 1811 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-02
Subject: Child and Mother Mortality Rate
Ministry: TRIBAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Navneet Ravi Rana

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## (MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS)

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.†1811

TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.03.2020

## CHILD AND MOTHER MORTALITY RATE

## †1811. SHRIMATI NAVNEET RAVI RANA:

Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) the steps being taken by the Government to reduce child mortality rate, mother mortality rate, check malnutrition, provide quality education to tribal children in schools for tribal students to construct separate hostels for female and male students in tribal dominated Dharni, Chikhaldara and Methagal region of Amravati district in Maharashtra;

(b)  whether  the  Government  is  considering  to  construct  separate  hostels  for  men  and  women considering the tribal dominated areas of Dharni, Chikhaldara and Methagal; and

(c) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE, TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SMT. RENUKA SINGH SARUTA)

(a) to (c): Government has adopted a multi- pronged strategy for holistic development of tribal people  living  across  the  country,  which  includes  supports  for  Health,  Education,  Sanitation, Drinking Water Supply, Livelihood, Skill Development, Agriculture, Horticulture and Fisheries etc.  Major  part  of  infrastructure  development  and  provision  of  basic  amenities  in  tribal areas/regions  in  the  country  is  carried  out  through  various  schemes/programmes  of  concerned central  Ministries  and  the  State  Governments  concerned,  while  the  Ministry  of  Tribal  Affairs provides additive to these initiatives by way of plugging critical gaps.

The  Government  of  India  is  implementing  a  number  of  interventions  under  the  National Health  Mission  (NHM)  across  the  country  to  reduce  child  and  mother  mortality  rate  in  the country which include the following:-

- i) Promotion  or  Institutional  deliveries  through  cash  incentive  under  Janani  Suraksha Yojana  (JSY)  and  Janani  Shishu  Suraksha  Karyakaram  (JSSK)  which  entitles  all pregnant  women  delivering  in  public  health  institutions  to  absolutely  free  delivery including Caesarean section, post-natal care and treatment of sick infants till one year of age.
2. ii) Strengthening of delivery points for providing comprehensive and quality reproductive, maternal, newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) Services, establishment of  Maternal  and  Child  Health  (MCH)  Wings  at  high  caseload  facilities,  ensuring essential newborn care at all delivery points, establishment of Special Newborn Care Units  (SNCU),  Newborn  Stabilization  Units  (NBSU)  and  Kangaroo  Mother  Care (KMC)  units for care of sick and small babies.
3. iii) Some other important interventions are Iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation for the  prevention  of  anaemia  among  the  valunerable  age  group,  annual  deworming    on National Deworming Day (NDD), home visits by ASHAs under Home Based Newborn Care  to  promote  community  care  practices  and  early  referral  of  sick  newborns  and promote use of ORS and Zinc for management of diarrhoea in children.

As  per  the  budget  announcement  2017-18,  1.5  lakh  Health  Sub  Centres  and  Primary Health Centres are being transformed into Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) for provision of comprehensive primary care that includes preventive and health promotion at the community level with continuum of care approach across the country for all population including tribals.

The Ayushman Bharat - Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) aim to provide an expanded  range  of  services  to  include  care  for  non  -  communicable  diseases,  palliative  and rehabilitative care, Oral, Eye and ENT care, mental health and first level care for emergencies and trauma as well as Health promotion and wellness activities like Yoga apart from services already being provided for Maternal and Child Health including immunization and communicable diseases.

Ministry of Women and Child Development is also implementing a number of schemes such as Anganwadi Services under which six services i.e. Supplementary Nutrition, Pre-school Education,  Health  &  Nutrition  Education,  Immunization,  Health  Check-up  and  Referral Services  are  provided  at  the  AWCs;  Pradhan  Mantri  MatruVandanaYojana  (PMMVY) under which  cash  incentives  are  given  to  the  pregnant  women  for  first  child  birth;  Scheme  for Adolescent Girls under which nutritional support is provided to the  11-14 years out of school Adolescent  Girls,  etc.,  for  improving  the  health  conditions  of  women  and  children  including those in the tribal areas.

Ministry  of  Tribal  Affairs  has  introduced  a  scheme  of  Eklavya  Model  Residential Schools (EMRSs) to impart quality  education exclusively to  ST children  with  an  objective  to provide  quality  middle  and  high-level  education  to  Scheduled  Tribes  (ST)  students  in  remote areas in order to enable them to avail of reservation in high and professional educational courses and get jobs in Government, Public and Private sectors.

Construction of separate hostels for girls and boys is an integral part of the scheme of EMRS. There is already one EMRS functional at Chikhaldara and one more EMRS is to be set up at Dharni in Amravati district in Maharashtra by the year 2022. Proposal for new project for funding are prepared and forwarded by State Government to Ministry of Tribal Affairs under its schemes are considered by Project Appraisal Committee (PAC) of MoTA for approval.

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