147 CHAPTER- VII TRIBAL HEALTH STATUS AND POVERTY INTRODUCTION For the measurement of poverty it is necessary to understand the concept of poverty. Poverty may be absolute or relative deprivation of well-being of a section of population. The concept of well-being is multidimensional. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the measurement of Poverty. Poverty means not only material deprivation, which is measured by income or consumption, but it can also be measured in terms of low achievements in education and health. It means to be poor to be hungry, and to lack shelter and clothing, to be sick and not cared, for to be illiterate and not schooled. According to Sen (1996), Poverty is not a matter of low well-being but of the inability to pursue well-being, but of the inability to pursue well-being Poverty is failure of capabilities. Poverty is defined as the inability of an individual to secure a normative minimum level of living. Even Dandekar and Rath (1971) with reference to a calorie norm of 2250 calories per capita per day arrived at the same poverty line (Rs 15 for rural India during that time). The planning commission’s task force defined the poor as “those whose per capita consumption lies below the mid point of monthly per capita expenditure class having a daily calorie in take of 2400 in rural areas and 2100 calories in urban areas. Poverty can be defined as social phenomena in which a section of the society is unable to fulfil their basic needs of life. When a substantial segment of a society is deprived a minimum level of living condition of substance level, that society is said to be plagued with mass poverty (Dutt and Sudershan, 1982). The term ‘poverty’ is synonymous with a shortage of income and food. But the development
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147
CHAPTER- VII
TRIBAL HEALTH STATUS AND POVERTY
INTRODUCTION
For the measurement of poverty it is necessary to understand the
concept of poverty. Poverty may be absolute or relative deprivation of
well-being of a section of population. The concept of well-being is
multidimensional. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the measurement
of Poverty. Poverty means not only material deprivation, which is
measured by income or consumption, but it can also be measured in
terms of low achievements in education and health. It means to be poor
to be hungry, and to lack shelter and clothing, to be sick and not cared,
for to be illiterate and not schooled. According to Sen (1996), Poverty is
not a matter of low well-being but of the inability to pursue well-being,
but of the inability to pursue well-being Poverty is failure of
capabilities.
Poverty is defined as the inability of an individual to secure a
normative minimum level of living. Even Dandekar and Rath (1971)
with reference to a calorie norm of 2250 calories per capita per day
arrived at the same poverty line (Rs 15 for rural India during that
time).
The planning commission’s task force defined the poor as “those
whose per capita consumption lies below the mid point of monthly per
capita expenditure class having a daily calorie in take of 2400 in rural
areas and 2100 calories in urban areas.
Poverty can be defined as social phenomena in which a section of
the society is unable to fulfil their basic needs of life. When a
substantial segment of a society is deprived a minimum level of living
condition of substance level, that society is said to be plagued with
mass poverty (Dutt and Sudershan, 1982). The term ‘poverty’ is
synonymous with a shortage of income and food. But the development
148
literature stresses the multidimensional of poverty. In addition to
material consumption, health, education, social life, environmental
quality, etc. all matter and having high correlation between income and
other measures of well-being, such as health and education status
(White, 2008, p.25). Absolute poverty is measured against some bench
mark-such as the cost of getting enough food to eat or can being able to
read and write. Relative poverty is measured against social standards;
in developing countries the basket of ‘essentials’ comprise food and a
few items of clothing, whereas in developed countries it includes
Christmas presents and going out once a month (White, 2008, p.25).
In India the SC and ST are such communities which are deemed
as downtrodden communities, they not only in economic terms but also
socially occupy the bottom position. In this section the focus is made
mainly on the tribals, the case is in hand. The tribals are generally
stricken with absolute poverty, not only in the economically and
backward state but also in the advanced state like Maharashtra, which
is most industrialized and urbanized state in the country. It is
astonishing to note that the tribals lagging much behind the non-
tribals in terms of their poverty and overall health status. In 1983-84
the planning commission computed the poverty at 37.4 per cent and
29.9 per cent in 1987-88 for the total population in the country. The
poverty among the tribals in 1983-84 was 58.4 per cent in rural areas
where 94 per cent of them have been living and about 40 per cent
among the urban population, which clearly indicated that their was a
mass poverty among the tribals and their position at present has not
improved much since they are exposed to exploitation and have been
alienated from forest and land economy (Hasnain, 1991). The
persistence of their mass poverty is due to marginalization of the bulk
of the tribal communities in context with the national level
development planning. In short, we can say that they have lost their
traditional life and access to forests and its produce. They have lost
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their lands to the non-tribals and entailed them to shift to the poor
lands. This is what actually since long the process of marginalization of
tribals has been continued as their resources are being exploited by the
non-tribals.
TRIBAL POVERTY IN THE CASE STUDY VILLAGES
To compute the poverty among tribals the data have been
generated by conducting sample studies in 14 tribal villages. In this
study it is considered that any family with an average of four members
and annual income below 20,000/- or below 5000/- per member of the
family is deemed to be below poverty line (BPL) and those who are
having income above Rs 20,000/- are considered as above poverty line
(APL) as per the tahsildar office (Nashik district). Apart from the per
capita income, another criterion like nutrition, housing and access to
education can also be used for this purpose (Ramotra, 2008). Dandekar
and Rath have also estimated the value of the diet with 2250 calories
as the desired minimum level of nutrition (Dandekar and Rath, 1971).
As mentioned above, the tribal poverty in 1983-84 was at 58.4
per cent mainly in the tribal areas, now it is found that much difference
has not been made in the reduction of their poverty. It is because of the
fact that, as more than 51 per cent tribals in the tribal pockets were
still below poverty line (in 2006-10) as per the field survey in 14 sample
villages in state. The average Bellow Poverty Line households are more
than 70 percent (72.75%) in case study villages. The maximum BPL
found in the village of Borvan (92.60%) and minimum in Bhanwad
(59.61%) village in Dindori tahsil of Nashik district, although the
distance between these villages is about 10 km, but difference is village
Borvan is located at par of mountain where communication meanse are
dissapere and Bhanwad is on plain, having good road network. More
than average BPL house holds are, identified with below poverty line,
which are stricken with absolute poverty. Almost all the households
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were indicating their poverty from the outside structure of the house
and in view of assets from inside. Not only this, there are some other
villages where the poverty was high, these are Borvan (92.66%) in
Dindori tahsil of Nashik district, Karamba (91.60%), Sulyachapada
(74.07%), in Jawhar tahsil, Ghatkarpada (74.07%), and Koch (73.52%)
in Mokhada tahsil of Thane district, Kankala (73.24%), Itwai (72.88%)
in Akkalkuwa tahsil of Nandurbar district, more than 70 per cent
tribals were stricken with poverty. In all there are seven villages
ranged between above 70 and 93 per cent below poverty line. Some of
the other villages like Pophsi (68.42%) Bhatode (68.18%), Chandikapur
(68.11%), and Bhanwad (59.61%) in Dindori tahsil of Nashik district,
Pohara (68.69%), Kakarpada (65.43%) in Akkaklkuwa tahsil of
Nandurbar district. The study investigated that out of 14 sample
villages in 7 villages (i.e. 50% of villages) less than 60 per cent to more
than 68 per cent tribals were below poverty line. It explicitly shows
that in majority of villages’ majority of tribals are stricken with
poverty. This micro level analysis based on the data generated from
the tribal villages has proved with evidences that the tribal living
condition needs to be addressed with a planning to raise their economic
status otherwise their accessibility to other resources, which are
essential for improvement can not be possible.
It is important to note that villages like, Bhanwad (40%), Phopsi
(37.57%), Kakarpada (34.57%), Nyahale (32.00%), Bhatode (31.2%) and
Pohara (31.31%), which are mostly economically well. It was noticed
during survey regarding their improvement in economic status
especially in Bhanwad and Kakarpada, where some tribal households
have taken loan for household dairy farming from SBI (State Bank of
India) with 30 per cent subsidy. Whatever the milk, they have is almost
sold out so that they can earn maximum income. In addition to that
remaining other villages showing their economic development except
Borvan (7.4%), and Karamba (8.33%), this is due to the fact tahsil
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administrater shown improvement in accessibility to transport,
irrigation, communication, literacy, education, electricity, etc. All these
factors have worked to raise their overall status comparatively better
than other tribal villages in this aspect.
Recently the planning commission on in its own estimated the
poverty at 27.5 per cent. It has shown that the poverty in India has
come down from 35.79 per cent in 1993-94 to 27.54 per cent in 2004-05.
It is further mentioned that the Orissa and Bihar are the worst where
57.2 per cent and 54.4 per cent respectively people are is stricken with
poverty. The World Bank’s Report has shown 41.6 per cent population
in India live on less than $1.25 a day as per the international poverty
line. Tendolkar’s report concludes that 41.8 per cent of the rural
population spent a major amount 447/- a month on essential necessities
like food, fuel, light, clothing and food. It means that the condition of
tribals in north-western part of Maharashtra is not better than Orissa
and Bihar in terms of poverty status (TOI, Dec 13, 2009, p.1, Pune).
It is concluded that, the tribal poverty is still at extreme level,
which can only be reduced by making the laws to bring back the lost
resources like forest and land to them and provision of education,
within the village or basic necessities of life have to be made available,
which are within their reach.
BODY MASS INDEX
Body mass index is one of the important indices to determine the
health on the basis of weight and height. BMI can be computed as
bellow:
Weight in Kg
BMI:
Height in Metre2
Whereas, BMI stands for Body Mass Index
Here the weight of a person (in Kg) is divided by height in M2
(Metre Square). It is generally computed by doctors to check the health
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of a person immediately. The scale determines that if the index is below
the 18.5 then the person is considered underweight. Normal weight
index ranges between 21 and 24.9, for over weight it is between 24.9
and 30, and obesity is considered when the index is above 30. The most
crucial about a person is that, if the index value is below 18.5 and over
25. It becomes serious when the index is more than 30. Therefore, the
values below 18.5 and above 30, both are dangerous which can cause
serious health problems like blood pressure, anemia, heart attack, etc.
The survey conducted in 2006-10 in 14 tribal sample villages, has
shown that, more than one third of the tribals were seriously under
weight. It is investigated that 8 villages out of 14 sample villages, the
tribals were having their under weight much below the value of 18.5
and the proportion of tribals with under weight was above the average
(35.21%) for the study area. Nearly 31.04 per cent were with light
under weight from 18.5 to 21. It means that under weight below 18.5
(35.21%) and light under weight 18.5 to 21 (31.04%) account for 66.25
per cent tribals who were under weight. It further shows that nearly
two thirds of their population is with under weight, which is a serious
case of malnutrition among the tribals. It is very serious in Itwai
(60.00%) village of Akkalkuwa tahsil of Nandurbar district and some
villages in same district like Kankala (41.33%), Pohara (40.63%), and
Kakarpada (38.83) have been seriously suffering from malnutrition as
their substaitial proportions of population is under weight.