Privatization "introduces" deep holes in pockets of Gujarat's poorer sections: Healthcare to pregnent women

By A Representative
Coming down heavily on Government of India initiative, Janani Shishu Suraksha Yojana (JSSY), meant to ensure “free” and “cashless” services to pregnant women for deliveries in public health facilities, antenatal care, and to infants up to a year, a top advocacy group has found that, in Gujarat, “more than half the women (51.4%) incurred out-of-pocket expenditure for antenatal care, and 48% for deliveries.”
Calling this as the result of the ugly face of privatization intruding into the health sector in Gujarat's rural areas, propagated as a model for toher states to follow, the advocacy group, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) said its survey of 500 pregnant women in Gujarat in the first half of 2015 suggests, most pregnant women are forced to go to private sector, “where JSSY is not operational.”
Giving the example of Anand district in Cenral Gujarat, which is economically developed, where the public health system is functioning relatively better, the JSA says, here, “the unregulated private sector has managed to capture much of health services.”
“In Anand district's Pansora Primary Health Centre (PHC), 80% of the women incurred out-of-pocket expenditure even for antenatal care, which is supposed to be provided by the public health system. Even in public facilities, up to 53.4% women (in Rasnol PHC) incurred the expenditure of up to Rs 6000”, JSA says.
“By contrast”, JSA says, “The backward tribal Panchmahals and Dahod, supposedly high priority districts, the government health system is weak, lacking resources and staff. The impoverished and already vulnerable women are pushed to the private sector. Around 75% of those who went to the private sector incurred expenditures for delivery up to Rs. 5,000”.
JSA's revelations came ahead of a crucial public hearing by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), to last for about six months starting in November, to be undertaken in different parts of India, on right to health and how it should be implemented in India. The hearing will be held in association with JSA.
JSA also revealed that as of March 2014, 136 blood banks were functioning in Gujarat, of which just 30 were managed by the state government at 12 medical college hospitals, nine district hospitals, two special hospitals, one taluka hospital, four municipal hospitals, one military hospitals, and one at a private medical college. As many as 82 blood banks were managed by charitable trusts, and 24 by private bodies.
“Eight districts did not have a government blood bank”, JSA said, adding, “In Narmada, a tribal district, there was no blood bank, either government or charitable/private.”
Releasing these facts at a press conference in Ahmedabad, JSA said, that while Gujarat may have reduced maternal mortality rate (MMR), an earlier survey report by it suggests there is little positive impact of the state's health programme on women who face “multiple vulnerabilities – young, SC/ST, low education, wage labourers, migrants.”
The report, in association with CommonHealth, another advocacy group, titled “Social Autopsies of Maternal Death in Selected Areas of Gujarat”, says that “41% of the maternal deaths occurred in very young women, below the age of 25 years – seven were between 16 and 20 years, more than half, i.e. 27 of the 46 deaths were of SC and ST women.”
The report says, “This is a higher proportion than the state’s SC-ST population of around 22 % (2011 Census). Almost half of the women who died – 46 % - were illiterate in comparison to 37% female illiteracy in Gujarat.”
It continues, “Most of the women who died had multiple occupations /responsibilities – in addition to domestic work”. Based on a survey of 45 women who suffered death, the report says, “25 of them were involved in either agricultural work or/and wage labour. Nine of the women who died migrated for longer than 2-3 months without safety of home and other basic amenities or any social security.”

Comments

Gram sabha as reformer: Mandla’s quiet challenge to the liquor economy

By Raj Kumar Sinha* This year, the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj is organising a two-day PESA Mahotsav in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, on 23–24 December 2025. The event marks the passage of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA), enacted by Parliament on 24 December 1996 to establish self-governance in Fifth Schedule areas. Scheduled Areas are those notified by the President of India under Article 244(1) read with the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, which provides for a distinct framework of governance recognising the autonomy of tribal regions. At present, Fifth Schedule areas exist in ten states: Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana. The PESA Act, 1996 empowers Gram Sabhas—the village assemblies—as the foundation of self-rule in these areas. Among the many powers devolved to them is the authority to take decisions on local matters, including the regulation...

MG-NREGA: A global model still waiting to be fully implemented

By Bharat Dogra When the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MG-NREGA) was introduced in India nearly two decades ago, it drew worldwide attention. The reason was evident. At a time when states across much of the world were retreating from responsibility for livelihoods and welfare, the world’s second most populous country—with nearly two-thirds of its people living in rural or semi-rural areas—committed itself to guaranteeing 100 days of employment a year to its rural population.

Policy changes in rural employment scheme and the politics of nomenclature

By N.S. Venkataraman* The Government of India has introduced a revised rural employment programme by fine-tuning the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which has been in operation for nearly two decades. The MGNREGA scheme guarantees 100 days of employment annually to rural households and has primarily benefited populations in rural areas. The revised programme has been named VB-G RAM–G (Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission – Gramin). The government has stated that the revised scheme incorporates several structural changes, including an increase in guaranteed employment from 100 to 125 days, modifications in the financing pattern, provisions to strengthen unemployment allowances, and penalties for delays in wage payments. Given the extent of these changes, the government has argued that a new name is required to distinguish the revised programme from the existing MGNREGA framework. As has been witnessed in recent years, the introdu...

Rollback of right to work? VB–GRAM G Bill 'dilutes' statutory employment guarantee

By A Representative The Right to Food Campaign has strongly condemned the passage of the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB–GRAM G) Bill, 2025, describing it as a major rollback of workers’ rights and a fundamental dilution of the statutory Right to Work guaranteed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). In a statement, the Campaign termed the repeal of MGNREGA a “dark day for workers’ rights” and accused the government of converting a legally enforceable, demand-based employment guarantee into a centralised, discretionary welfare scheme.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Making rigid distinctions between Indian and foreign 'historically untenable'

By A Representative Oral historian, filmmaker and cultural conservationist Sohail Hashmi has said that everyday practices related to attire, food and architecture in India reflect long histories of interaction and adaptation rather than rigid or exclusionary ideas of identity. He was speaking at a webinar organised by the Indian History Forum (IHF).

India’s Halal economy 'faces an uncertain future' under the new food Bill

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The proposed Food Safety and Standards (Amendment) Bill, 2025 marks a decisive shift in India’s food regulation landscape by seeking to place Halal certification exclusively under government control while criminalising all private Halal certification bodies. Although the Bill claims to promote “transparency” and “standardisation,” its structure and implications raise serious concerns about religious freedom, economic marginalisation, and the systematic dismantling of a long-established, Muslim-led Halal ecosystem in India.

From jobless to ‘job-loss’ growth: Experts critique gig economy and fintech risks

By A Representative Leading economists and social activists gathered in the capital on Friday to launch the third edition of the State of Finance in India Report 2024-25 , issuing a stark warning that the rapid digitalization of the Indian economy is eroding welfare systems and entrenching "digital dystopia."

Search This Blog