Scheduled Tribe Women Research Articles

Do scheduled caste and scheduled tribe women legislators mean lower gender-caste gaps in primary schooling in India?

Despite India's substantial investments in primary schooling, gaps in schooling persist across gender and caste—with scheduled caste and scheduled tribe (SC/ST) girls being particularly disadvantaged. The representation of SC/ST women in state legislatures may help to mitigate this disadvantage. Specifically, because of her intersecting gender and caste/tribe identities, a SC/ST woman legislator might maintain a strong sense of solidarity especially with SC/ST girls and women, and support legislative policies benefitting SC/ST girls. Consequently, for this reason, we expect that living in a district where SC/ST women represent in state legislatures in a higher proportion may increase SC/ST girls' primary school completion, progression and performance. We tested this hypothesis using district-level data between 2000 and 2004 from the Indian Election Commission, the 2004/5 India Human Development Survey, and the Indian Census of 2001. As expected, the representation of SC/ST women in state legislatures was positively associated with SC/ST girls' grade completion and age-appropriate grade progression but was apparent not SC/ST girls' primary-school performance. SC/ST women's representation in state legislatures may reduce gender-caste gaps in primary-school attainment in India.

Factors associated with utilization of antenatal care services among tribal women: A study of selected States.

Background & objectives:Despite various efforts by the Government of India, utilization of antenatal care (ANC) services continues to be low among women from rural areas particularly those belonging to the Scheduled Tribes. The present study was undertaken to examine the factors associated with the utilization of ANC services among women in four States including Rajasthan, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh which constitute a good share of tribal population of the country.Methods:Data from third round of District Level Household and Facility Survey, 2007-08 (DLHS-3) have been used. Bivariate and multivariate analyses (logistic regression model) were used to study the association between the utilization of ANC services and the independent variables at individual, household and village levels along with the motivational factors (motivation by health workers and family members).Results:The utilization of ANC services among Scheduled Tribes women varied from about 4 per cent in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to 10-14 per cent in Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Utilization was highest among those women with level of education 9th class and above (15-28%) and those women who visited health facility for pregnancy confirmation test (9-27%). Across the States, women who visited health facility for pregnancy testing (adjusted odds ratio, AOR = 1.5-2.5; P<0.001) except in Madhya Pradesh; registration of pregnancy (AOR = 2.1-4.5; P<0.01) and sought treatment of pregnancy related problems (AOR = 1.5-1.8; P<0.06) except in Rajasthan, were more likely to avail complete ANC services than their counterparts.Interpretation & conclusions:The utilization of antenatal care among Scheduled Tribe women across four States was very poor. The reasons behind non-utilisation include both socio-economic and health system factors. For improving ANC utilization among tribes, these factors need to be addressed with special emphasis on woman's educational attainment of high school and above. In addition, the study highlighted the need to create awareness among both pregnant tribal women as well as her family members on the importance of early ANC care.

Right to Education of Scheduled Tribe: An Indian Perspective.

Education seeks to unfold the latent qualities of a person, thereby giving full development to the individual. As such, it has been described as the act or art of developing, or creating, cultivating the various physical intellectual, aesthetic and moral faculties of the individual. Scheduled Tribe has a history of social and economic deprivation, and the underlying causes of their educational marginalization are also strikingly distinct. About 87 percent of the main workers from these communities were engaged in primary sector activities. The literacy rate of Scheduled Tribes is around 47 percent, as against the national average of 74.04 percent. More than three-quarters of Scheduled Tribes women are non-literate. Not surprisingly, the cumulative effect has been that the proportion of Scheduled Tribes below the poverty line is substantially higher than the national average. The study intends to explore the state of education and the awareness of the disadvantaged groups towards right to education as a fundamental human right with special reference to Right to Education Act,2010. Key words: Scheduled Tribe, Right to Education Act, 2010, marginalization.

Trends in institutional deliveries among disadvantaged groups and the impact of intervention in Gujarat: evidence from secondary data analysis

BackgroundAn estimated 1·2 million births per year in Gujarat include a significant number of home deliveries. The District Level Household Survey-3 (DLHS-3; 2007) reported nearly 40% of all deliveries in Gujarat occurred at home. Gujarat's maternal mortality rate was reduced from 202 to 148 per 100 000 deliveries between 2000 and 2010. Despite the overall progress, issues such as access and equity are contributing to wide disparities between different populations in the state. The financial barrier is the limiting factor for access to institutional deliveries among poor women. The Chiranjeevi scheme was introduced to increase access to institutional deliveries, particularly to poor women. The scheme provides free delivery care in private health-care facilities for women from below-poverty-line (BPL) families. MethodsSecondary data analysis was done for the DLHS-3 and the coverage evaluation survey, a UNICEF dataset. The determinants were place of residence, education, caste, and wealth index. The outcome variables included institutional delivery, defined as delivery in a hospital, clinic, or health centre. In the DLHS, wealth index was computed by combining household amenities, assets, and durables, and then divided into quintiles. In this analysis, the poorest and second wealth quintiles were grouped into the poor category while the non-poor included the top three quintiles. Education status was divided into non-literate, fewer than 5 years of education, and 5 or more years of education. The analysis included trends in the institutional deliveries among rural, poor, non-literate, scheduled castes, and scheduled tribe women who delivered during the reference period (Jan 1, 2004, until survey year 2008). Further, we used a before–after intervention approach to evaluate the impact of the Chiranjeevi Yojana on rates of institutional deliveries among the disadvantaged groups. FindingsThe results show an increase in institutional deliveries from 2005 to 2009 among the disadvantaged groups, including the rural population, scheduled caste and tribes, poor, non-literate, and BPL families. Overall, there was a 32% increase in institutional deliveries between 2005 (658 780 of 1 155 148 [57%] deliveries) and 2009 (943 037 of 1 054 852 [89%] deliveries). The increase in institutional deliveries was from 52·2% to 56·5% between DLHS-2 (2002–04) and DLHS-3 (2007–08), respectively. The impact of the intervention is clear when data from 2006, before the Chiranjeevi Yojana programme was implemented, are compared with results since the programme took effect. InterpretationA targeted intervention, the Chiranjeevi scheme in Gujarat, has improved rates of institutional deliveries among disadvantaged groups. Improvement in maternal health outcomes among disadvantaged groups will increase the likelihood of achieving Millennium Development Goal 5 in Gujarat. FundingThis work was part of the Evidence for Policy and Implementation 4 project, a capacity-building project funded by a partner driven cooperation fund provided by the Swedish Government to Karolinska Institutet.

Correlates of Antenatal and Postnatal Care among Tribal Women in India

It is well established that those women who under go full antenatal care check-up and give birth in a medical institution or whose delivery is attended by trained paramedical persons promotes child survival and reduces maternal mortality . In the light of the above, an attempt is made in this paper to relate the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the currently married Schedule Tribes' women in eight districts of Chhatisgarh with factors associated with antenatal and post- natal care. Data for this study were taken from District Level Household Survey on Reproductive and Child Health (DLHS- RCH 2002), a representative sample of 1569 Scheduled Tribes' currently married women aged 15-44, residing in eight districts of Chhatisgarh. Adjusted effects (odds ratios) analysis has been used to find out the ef fects of antenatal and post-natal care on institutional delivery in Chhatisgarh. It is observed that majority of the Scheduled Tribes' women, about 84 percent, have a low standard of living. Also, 74 per cent of the Scheduled Tribes' women are illiterate. The finding of the adjusted effects (odds ratio) shows that giving birth in the medical institution for the Scheduled Tribes' women who received full antenatal check up is 2.5 times higher than those women who did not receive any antenatal check-up. It suggests that majority of the currently married Scheduled Tribe women have low standard of living there is a need to improve their economic standard so that they can fulfill their basic needs.

Correlates of Antenatal and Postnatal Care among Tribal Women in India

It is well established that those women who under go full antenatal care check-up and give birth in a medical institution or whose delivery is attended by trained paramedical persons promotes child survival and reduces maternal mortality . In the light of the above, an attempt is made in this paper to relate the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the currently married Schedule Tribes' women in eight districts of Chhatisgarh with factors associated with antenatal and post- natal care. Data for this study were taken from District Level Household Survey on Reproductive and Child Health (DLHS- RCH 2002), a representative sample of 1569 Scheduled Tribes' currently married women aged 15-44, residing in eight districts of Chhatisgarh. Adjusted effects (odds ratios) analysis has been used to find out the ef fects of antenatal and post-natal care on institutional delivery in Chhatisgarh. It is observed that majority of the Scheduled Tribes' women, about 84 percent, have a low standard of living. Also, 74 per cent of the Scheduled Tribes' women are illiterate. The finding of the adjusted effects (odds ratio) shows that giving birth in the medical institution for the Scheduled Tribes' women who received full antenatal check up is 2.5 times higher than those women who did not receive any antenatal check-up. It suggests that majority of the currently married Scheduled Tribe women have low standard of living there is a need to improve their economic standard so that they can fulfill their basic needs.

Decision-making and Fertility Behaviour

Women’s decision-making power in India is a much researched issue among the feminist social scientists. In the literature decision-making is frequently used synonymously as women’s status, women’s position in a society and in a household. Women’s decision-making play an important role in determining her reproductive health and fertility behaviour. National Family Health Survey (NFHS) incorporated some mobility and finance-related decision-making indicators to grossly quantify the level of decision-making. This article is an attempt to explore the relationship between women’s decision-making and fertility behaviour among married scheduled caste and scheduled tribe women of 15–49 years in Odisha based on NFHS-3. Results using different statistical techniques indicate that level of women’s decision-making is not influencing significantly the fertility behaviour in both the study communities. This calls for further debate and discussions on the questions put by NFHS in their nationwide survey.

Delivery Care for Scheduled Tribe Women in India: A Disaggregated Regional Analysis

India has a high pregnancy and childbirth related maternal mortality rate. The present paper, based on the data from the District Level Household Survey-Reproductive and Child Health (DLHS-RCH) 2002-2004, asserts that tribal women received low delivery care vis-a-vis non-tribal women. Multivariate analysis shows that educational level, standard of living, and ante-natal care visits have a significant effect on safe delivery care. The majority of the scheduled tribe women, being socially and economically backward, are at a distinct disadvantage in getting safe delivery care. The degree of their disadvantage, which also varies spatially, is very high in the central-Indian tribal belt.

Trends in literacy rates and schooling among the scheduled tribe women in India

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to highlight the differences in literacy and schooling attainment among the scheduled tribe women in India.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses data from the Census of India, Department of Education in India, and National Human Development Report prepared by the Government of India.FindingsThe high status of women among the tribal groups in the northeastern states has important effects on the literacy rates, enrollment ratios and dropout rates of girls in that region. High‐poverty rates pose to be significant obstacles in attaining literacy and education among tribal women in India. However, large differences in literacy rates in the various states in India show that social and cultural norms, proximity to the mainstream Hindu culture, and the role of women are also important determinants in achieving literacy among tribal women.Originality/valueLiteracy is considered to be an important tool for improving the status of women among the scheduled tribes. Aggregate statistics often paint a dismal picture of the low‐literacy rates and schooling among the scheduled tribe women. This paper shows that such statistics fail to capture the different trends in literacy rates and value placed in schooling among the various tribal groups in India. Differences in economic, social, and cultural backgrounds among the various tribes need to be emphasized in order to understand the differential nature of investments in literacy rates and schooling among tribal women in India.

Reproductive Morbidity of Women in Karnataka

The main objective of the present study is to highlight the extent of reproductive health problems, the factors responsible for increasing RTI cases and to suggest appropriate strategies. Five types of obstetric problems and seven types of gynaecological problems were listed in both National Family Health Survey-2 (NFHS-2) and Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) surveys. Fewer than half the women reported at least one obstetric morbidity and more than one-tenth reported at least one gynaecological morbidity. More women in urban areas had reported obstetric morbidity whereas more women from rural areas reported gynaecological morbidity. Educated women, women who work in other activities and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe women reported that they are suffering from obstetric problems. Women who do not have toilet facilities at home and women who live in semipucca houses reported gynaecological problems. There is a relationship between age at first delivery or ‘child-birth’ and the reproductive morbidity of women. Reproductive morbidity due to abortion is high among rural women. Data reveals that fewer than half the women who reported gynaecological problems did not seek treatment. Of the women who reported at least one symptom of gynaecological problems nearly half were in the 25–34 age group and only 50–60 per cent of them sought treatment. Education played a major role in women's health-seeking behaviour. Among those who sought treatment majority had gone to private health facilities. There is need to expand informed choices among women. Women must be empowered to take charge of their pregnancy-related needs. It is important to raise community awareness regarding early marriage and pregnancy. Misconceptions about nutrition and health care during pregnancy must be confronted at the community level and among pregnant women, and the families in which they reside.

An Overview of Utilization of Antenatal Care Services Among the Scheduled Tribe of Major States in India

This paper attempts to study the utilization of antenatal care (ANC) services among the Scheduled Tribe population in the major states of India. Data was extracted from the National Family and Health Survey which was conducted in 26 major states of India during 1992-93. Aside from a percentage distribution the technique of Pearsons Correlation was adopted to analyze the data. Overall findings revealed that Scheduled Tribe women were lagging far behind Scheduled Caste women and others in terms of acceptance of ANC services. Furthermore the utilization of ANC was much poorer in the northern states compared to southern states. This difference in the acceptance of ANC may be due to differences in certain social variables such as level of education and lower status of women which is lower in the northern states compared to the southern states.

Gender inequality in education and employment in the scheduled castes and tribes of India

The complex stratification systems in India give rise to a multiplicity of social categories which often obscure the relative status of women and men within the more disadvantaged segments of the population. The focus of this study is on the situation of women in scheduled castes and tribes — groups which are referred to as ‘weaker sections of people’ and granted special safeguards and concessions under the Indian constitution. Women in these under-privileged groups are doubly disadvantaged: their minority group status interacts with India's patriarchal culture to produce deplorable living conditions. Drawing from both ethnographic and statistical sources, the paper presents a descriptive profile of scheduled caste and tribe women's status in Indian society. Using Indian Census data, the study documents extreme degrees of gender inequality among the scheduled groups. Findings indicate that relative to men, women in these groups have far more limited access to both educational and employment resources. This research also suggests that socioeconomic development serves to reduce the disadvantage of scheduled group women relative to men. Among the scheduled groups considered to be more developed according to standard indicators, findings indicate less gender inequality in education and employment.