Reproductive health care status of the displaced tribal women in India: An analysis using Nussbaum Central human capabilities.

Scheduled Tribes (STs) of India are characterized by distinct cultures and a close relationship with the land they inhabit. Tribal people make up to 5% of the world's population but 15% of such people are living in poverty. They face deprivations caused by social, economic, and political exclusion. In India displacement due to development projects is pushing the tribals out of their habitat dispossessing them of their traditional forest resources. Women and children in displacement suffer more than the male counterpart especially in the process of moving to a new setup. The objective of the author is to study the reproductive healthcare status of displaced tribal women in India. In this paper, the author underlines the capabilities of tribal women in post displacement settings. The study was conducted in three wildlife sanctuaries in the Indian States of Odisha and Chhattisgarh namely Simlipal, Chandaka-Dampara, and Achankamar. Sequential explanatory study design was employed for collecting the data. A total of 194 displaced tribal women within the reproductive age group of 15-49 years were surveyed and Focus Group Discussion was conducted among the displaced women. Women who had given birth in the last five years were selected using a purposive sampling method. Key findings of the study suggest that women lack awareness of child spacing capabilities (57%) and the unmet need for family planning is comparatively higher. More than half of the women face domestic violence that curtails their capabilities to avail reproductive healthcare services. It also reduces the immediate wellbeing of their children. Women in this study lack control over the decision on reproductive healthcare. Due to this, women lack social and political freedom. The Government of India has taken fewer initiatives to promote effective reproductive healthcare services. Also, there is limited awareness in the rehabilitation colonies on protection from domestic violence.