Hyderabad: A viral video is taking rounds on social media, where a group of tribal people are seen crossing an heavy flowing stream from an overflowing dam as a man carries a pregnant woman on his shoulder to transport her to the hospital.
The Viral Video
The video is from a small village, Pinjarikonda village, with an inhabited tribal population located in Andhra Pradesh's Alluri district. This viral video has made netizens furious about the lack of basic infrastructure and facilities.
The viral post expresses the sentiments of the tribals left helpless because of a lack of infrastructure, as they are forced to choose a do-or-die situation where they understand crossing the overflowing stream while carrying the pregnant woman is as dangerous and risky as not been able to admit the woman to hospital soon.
Government Schemes For Pregnant Tribal Women
Prime Minister's Matru Vandana Scheme (PMMVY)
The PMMVY initiative, established in 2022, pledges to offer monetary rewards to expectant mothers and nursing women to offset some of their lost income and encourage hospital births.
Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY)
The JSY is a government-funded scheme for enhancing maternal healthcare. The program offers financial aid and combines support during and after childbirth. The JSY program is a secure initiative for maternal health supported by the National Health Mission. The aim is to lower maternal and neonatal deaths by encouraging poor pregnant women to choose institutional delivery.
Anganwadi Services
Offers a set of services to pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, such as extra nutrition, health teachings, vaccines, and health examinations.
YSR Sampoorna Poshana and YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus
Schemes that provide take-home ration facilities to those women who are pregnant women and are lactating mothers.
Recent Similar Incident
In July 2022, a pregnant woman in labour from a tribal hamlet in a flood-affected Bhadradri Kothagudem district had to be carried on a 'doli' over a flooded stream to reach the ambulance. Due to lack of road connectivity, the ambulance had to wait 2 km away. In a similar event in Adilabad district, a woman had to be transported on a bullock cart near a stream for childbirth.
Chandrababu Naidu had pointed fingers at the YSR Congress Party for detrimental the lives of tribals in the state and had ordered officials to reintroduce feeder ambulances so the locals do not have to resort to 'doli' in future instances.
Furious Netizens
Netizens have been seen tagging official accounts of the Andhra Pradesh government and chief minister in the comment section of the viral post. Netizens are also tagging the X account of actor turned Pawan Kalyan, Minister of Environment, Forests, Science, and Technology of Andhra Pradesh, as he recently expressed strong sentiments in the Tirumala ladu prasadam adulteration case, calling out his priorities as an Andhra Pradesh minister.
