Recasting Citizenship for Development - File UPI

180 DEEPAK K. MISHRA AND VANDANA UPADHYAY
mandatory level. The percentage of severely undernourished children was
found to be marginally higher among girls than boys, but the percentage
of moderately malnourished children was higher in the case of boys. 11
Thus, so far as the overall nutritional status is concerned, no serious gender
discrimination was found. A crucial aspect of the food consumption pattern
in the state is the high average consumption of leafy vegetables, roots
and tubers as well as fish and meat, not only in comparison with the
national averages but also compared with the neighbouring states. A substantial
proportion of these items are collected from forests and jhum
fields. Women’s nutritional status is related to their participation in forestrelated
activities and access to forest resources. Women’s access to forests
and other Common Property Resources (CPR) is intrinsically linked to
their micro-level strategies for risk minimisation, mutual support and
solidarity in a high-risk ecological-economic context. Along with the gradual
privatisation of these resources, the food and nutrition security prospects
of households in general and the access of women and girls to food and
nutrition in particular need to be carefully monitored in the future. An
analysis of the NFHS-II data suggests that, contrary to the findings in other
parts of India, in the northeastern region, female children have a nutritional
edge over male children (Rama Rao et al. 2004).
Notwithstanding the significant efforts that have gone into establishing
the modern health care system in the state, it must be emphasised
that the access of women in general and that of rural and poor women in
particular remains very low in comparison with the national average.
According to the NFHS-II, only 40.5 per cent of mothers received three
ante-natal check-ups and 34 per cent of births were assisted by trained
personnel. There is a great deal of rural-urban disparity as well as a high
concentration of these services in the few urban, administrative centres.
Women’s Participation in Household Decision-making
The overwhelming dominance of the patriarchal value-system denies
effective rights of participation to women in various spheres. Structural
inequalities in terms of relative deprivations in earnings, education,
employability and overall well-being create strong barriers to the informed
and effective participation of women in decision-making, so far as the
majority of the women are concerned. Moreover, the internalisation of