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Notwithstanding some positive developments taking place in the health sector, a sizeable section of the State’s women living in char (riverine) areas continues to suffer for lack of access to health care and even the basic awareness about family planning. A case in point is a settlement on the Moabari embankment near Moirabari in Morigaon district on which this newspaper carried a news feature. The women are compelled to lead a life of perpetual drudgery, with the bane of early marriage and child-bearing at close intervals haunting them for a good part of their lives. All the families have on the average six to eight children, most of them suffering from malnutrition. All this is more surprising given that the area is not exactly remote, with a government hospital located nearby. The grim reality, therefore, is that the much-hyped government interventions on health care, especially for women and children, remain a non-starter in the area. It is regrettable that a crucial area like family planning – something inextricably linked to woman empowerment as well as long-term socio-economic progress – should be neglected in this manner. Moabari is not an isolated episode, and there would be scores of such areas across the State where government-sponsored welfare schemes exist only on paper.
For meaningful implementation of any welfare project, the Government will have to accord thrust on reaching out to the most needy and vulnerable sections. Recently, the Government introduced several programmes aimed at ensuring family planning, institutional delivery, etc. Places like Moabari need to be accorded special focus for success of the projects, as doing things as a matter of routine will lead us nowhere. Along with health interventions there is an urgent need for creating awareness in the backward areas having a high incidence of illiteracy and poverty. A sustained motivational campaign with support from voluntary organisations could help in freeing the minds of the targeted beneficiaries from the deep-rooted social dogmas and prejudices that shackle them. In places like Moabari, women are made to believe that early marriage and child-bearing are their bounden duties. The Government spends crores of rupees on adult literacy every year. The point is why such campaigns fail to reach the areas which need such interventions the most. The Government would do well to realise that drumbeating its perceived successes amounts to living in a fool’s paradise when the reality presents a picture in stark contrast. The abysmal human development indices for women will continue to make a mockery of all tall claims by the Government. THE SENTINEL
Notwithstanding some positive developments taking place in the health sector, a sizeable section of the State’s women living in char (riverine) areas continues to suffer for lack of access to health care and even the basic awareness about family planning. A case in point is a settlement on the Moabari embankment near Moirabari in Morigaon district on which this newspaper carried a news feature. The women are compelled to lead a life of perpetual drudgery, with the bane of early marriage and child-bearing at close intervals haunting them for a good part of their lives. All the families have on the average six to eight children, most of them suffering from malnutrition. All this is more surprising given that the area is not exactly remote, with a government hospital located nearby. The grim reality, therefore, is that the much-hyped government interventions on health care, especially for women and children, remain a non-starter in the area. It is regrettable that a crucial area like family planning – something inextricably linked to woman empowerment as well as long-term socio-economic progress – should be neglected in this manner. Moabari is not an isolated episode, and there would be scores of such areas across the State where government-sponsored welfare schemes exist only on paper.
For meaningful implementation of any welfare project, the Government will have to accord thrust on reaching out to the most needy and vulnerable sections. Recently, the Government introduced several programmes aimed at ensuring family planning, institutional delivery, etc. Places like Moabari need to be accorded special focus for success of the projects, as doing things as a matter of routine will lead us nowhere. Along with health interventions there is an urgent need for creating awareness in the backward areas having a high incidence of illiteracy and poverty. A sustained motivational campaign with support from voluntary organisations could help in freeing the minds of the targeted beneficiaries from the deep-rooted social dogmas and prejudices that shackle them. In places like Moabari, women are made to believe that early marriage and child-bearing are their bounden duties. The Government spends crores of rupees on adult literacy every year. The point is why such campaigns fail to reach the areas which need such interventions the most. The Government would do well to realise that drumbeating its perceived successes amounts to living in a fool’s paradise when the reality presents a picture in stark contrast. The abysmal human development indices for women will continue to make a mockery of all tall claims by the Government. THE SENTINEL
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