SEVENTY-YEAR-OLD Jetli has seen her family grow by three generations. This is lesser than what her ancestors witnessed. When I was six years old, at least five generations of my family used to live together, she said. A resident of Chhapri village in Madhya Pradesh's Jhabua district, Jetli believes people of her Bhil tribal community are not living for as long as they used to a few decades ago. Doctors say this is due to people getting married later and having fewer children.
But Jetli's assumption is not entirely wrong. If you are born as a member of a scheduled tribe (ST) in India today, you are likely to live four years lesser than a higher caste Hindu, according to a recent study by researchers with the Research Institute for Compassionate Economics, a non-profit focused on health and well-being in India. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in March 2022, the study says that Relative to higher-caste Hindus, Adivasi life expectancy is more than 4 y [years] lower, Dalit life expectancy is more than 3 y lower, and Muslim life expectancy is about 1 y lower. Its estimates are based on the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's Annual Health Survey, 201011, which analyses nine states: Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Among these, ST groups in Madhya Pradesh have the lowest life expectancy; for men it is 57.4 years and for women 60.1 years.
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Denne historien er fra June 01, 2022-utgaven av Down To Earth.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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A SPRIG TO CARE FOR
Punarnava, a perennial herb, is easy to grow and has huge health benefits
DIGGING A DISASTER
Soapstone mining near Dabti Vijaypur village has caused many residents to migrate.
REVIEW THE TREATMENT
Several faecal sludge treatment plants in Uttar Pradesh suffer from design flaws that make the treatment process both expensive and inefficient
MAKE STEEL SUSTAINABLE
As India works to double its GDP by 2030, its steel industry must balance growth with sustainability. By embracing policies like the Steel Scrap Recycling Policy 2019 and adopting green technologies, India is paving the way for a more sustainable future in steel production
Can ANRF pull off the impossible for India?
Anusandhan National Research Foundation is expected to reorient India's innovation goals but funding issues, old mindsets remain a drag
TROUBLED WOODS
Forests are a great bulwark against climate change. But this is fast changing. AKSHIT SANGOMLA travels through some of the pristine patches of the Western Ghats to explore how natural disturbances triggered by global warming now threaten the forest health
BLINDING GLOW
The science is clear: increased illumination has damaging consequences for the health of humans, animals and plants. It’s time governments introduced policies to protect the natural darkness and improved the quality of outdoor lighting.
GROUND REALITY
What happens when the soil loses the ability to grow healthy, high-yield crops on its own?
GM POLICY MUST BE FARMER CENTRIC
On July 23, the Supreme Court of India directed the Union government to develop a national policy on genetically modified (GM) crops for research, cultivation, trade and commerce through public consultation.
Vinchurni's Gandhi
A 96-year-old farmer transforms barren land into a thriving forest in drought-prone region of Satara
