A national level project of health screening and management through Ayurvedic interventions to benefit over 20,000 tribal students will be launched tomorrow by Union Minister of Ayush and Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shri Sarbananda Sonowal and Union Minister of Tribal Affairs and Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Shri Arjun Munda tomorrow at New Delhi. The Ministry of Ayush through its research council CCRAS has taken this health Initiatives for Tribal Students in collaboration with Ministry of Tribal Affairs and ICMR-NIRTH Jabalpur.

The project aims at screening the general health condition of the students enrolled in classes 6th to 12th. The screening will be carried out in selected 55 Ekalavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) spread across 14 states of the country. The special focus is on Anaemia, Haemoglobinopathies, Malnutrition & Tuberculosis. Efforts will be made to inculcate healthy lifestyle practices among students as per the principles of Ayurveda. Also, an integrated approach will be made for the management of the diseases.

The intervention will be carried out by the 16 peripheral units of Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Ministry of Ayush, Government of India & ICMR-National Institute of Research in Tribal Health, Jabalpur in collaboration with Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Ministry of Ayush and Ministry of Tribal Affairs in October 2022 to explore the areas of collaboration, convergence and synergy for tribal development. Accordingly, CCRAS developed 72 Poshan Vatikas in EMRS of 20 states. CCRAS Institutes also participated in the mega health camps during Janajati Mahotsav at Saraikela, Jharkhand.

Tribal health in India is still an area of concern after more than seven decades of independence. Despite commendable efforts, there are several obstacles that hinder the successful delivery of healthcare services to these underserved populations. The tribal population of the country, as per 2011 census, is 10.43 crore, constituting 8.6% of the total population; 89.97% of them live in rural areas and 10.03% in urban areas.

Ekalavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs) impart quality education to Scheduled Tribes (ST) children in remote areas in order to enable them to avail of opportunities in high and professional educational courses and get employment in various sectors. The schools focus not only on academic education but on the all-round development of the students including good health. At present, there are 401 functional schools spanned across the country with focus on special state-of-the-art facilities for providing quality education and training in sports and skill development.