Decode Civils CAShorts
Current affairs Open app
ExplainerNationalPrelimsGS2

Infant mortality and child malnutrition among Scheduled Tribes

By CAShorts DeskPublished Source: The Hindu; Registrar General of India (SRS 2022); PIB (Ministries of Tribal Affairs, Women and Child Development); PMO; Ministry of Tribal Affairs

Why in news: By 31 October 2026, Kerala's Attappady had lost 12 infants in recent months, 10 of them tribal; the State has begun an expert assessment.

Infant mortality and child malnutrition among Scheduled Tribes
Illustration (AI-generated)

The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) counts deaths under age one per 1,000 live births; India's was 26 in 2022, per the Sample Registration System. Tribal children fare worse on nutrition: NFHS-5 (2019-21) found 40.9% of Scheduled Tribe children under five stunted, against 35.5% overall. Twelve recent infant deaths in Kerala's Attappady, ten of them tribal, revived concern.

Syllabus: Prelims · Economy & Social Development; GS2 · Welfare of Vulnerable Sections; GS2 · Health, Education & Human Resources

Why this matters for UPSC

GS2 health, nutrition and vulnerable sections: Scheduled Tribes and child welfare schemes. Prelims can ask who measures IMR and stunting; Mains, why tribal children lag.

In short

Infant mortality and child undernutrition measure whether a society keeps its youngest alive and growing; among Scheduled Tribes both stay worse than national averages despite steady gains.

Why tribal infants areat riskMaternal anaemiaLow birth weightLandlessness andpovertyDistance fromhealth care

Tribal child survival will rise when maternal nutrition, land security and services that reach remote hamlets advance together, measured community by community.

Why it matters

A tribal mother in a remote hamlet who is anaemic and underweight is more likely to give birth to a small, weak baby, and that baby starts life with little reserve against infection and hunger. If the child survives infancy but stays stunted, the harm to growth and brain development is hard to undo, and weaker schooling and earnings tend to follow. That is why nutrition programmes now begin in pregnancy and the first two years, not with older children. For tribal families, distance from roads, clinics and Anganwadi Centres decides whether such help arrives at all. When it does not, a gap in health turns into a gap in opportunity that can last a generation.

Prelims pointers

  • The under-five mortality rate counts deaths before age five per 1,000 live births; the SRS put it at 30 for India in 2022.
  • The SRS is run by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India; the NFHS is a survey of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
  • PM-JANMAN answers the Union Budget 2023-24 promise of a PVTG Development Mission; its outlay is shared, Rs 15,336 crore from the Centre and Rs 8,768 crore from the States.
  • Of India's 10.45 crore Scheduled Tribe population (Census 2011), 75 communities in 18 States and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
  • Supplementary nutrition under Poshan 2.0 follows Schedule II of the National Food Security Act, 2013; the norms were revised in January 2023 for diet diversity.
  • The Integrated Child Development Services (1975) built the Anganwadi network; the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (2017) pays maternity benefit by direct cash transfer.
  • POSHAN Abhiyan, the National Nutrition Mission, was launched on 8 March 2018 and brings together more than 26 ministries and departments.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in India, consider the following statements:

1. It is the number of deaths of children under five years of age per 1,000 live births in a year.

2. Its annual estimates for India and the States come from the Sample Registration System of the Registrar General of India.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 only
  2. (b) 2 only
  3. (c) Both 1 and 2
  4. (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Show the answer

Answer: (b) 2 only

Answer: (b) 2 only. IMR covers deaths before the first birthday, and the SRS estimates it.

Statement 1: incorrect. IMR counts deaths of infants under one year per 1,000 live births; deaths under five make the under-five mortality rate (30 in 2022, SRS).

Statement 2: correct. The Sample Registration System of the Office of the Registrar General of India gives annual IMR estimates; its 2022 report puts India at 26.

Eliminate: statement 1 describes the under-five rate, so it is wrong. Out: (a), (c).

Eliminate: statement 2 is right, since the SRS is the source of IMR. Out: (d).

Trap: Look-alike names. The question pins the definition of the under-five mortality rate on the infant mortality rate, two indicators printed side by side in SRS tables.

Remember: Infant means under one year; IMR, neonatal and under-five rates are all per 1,000 live births.

More Explainers

All Explainers

More National current affairs