This monograph is guided by f

On a hot summer’s day in 1982, while walking through a jungle path in Bankura, West Bengal, anthropologist Naraya

Undernourished women tend to deliver low birth weight babies (Karmer, 1987) and to have pregnancy complications (Baird, 1947). Perinatal mortality and prematurity rates were found to be high among short statured women (Barros, 1987).

INDIA IS A VAST country with a population of more than 844 million. The tribal populations of India constitute a significant proportion of India's total population. There are more than 400 tribal population groups constituting

Though fertility is a biological phenomenon there are a number of other factors influencing the levels and differentials of fertility among tribals.

Hysterectomy is major surgery with a mortality rate of 1-2 per 1000 operations and an even higher complication rate. There is a widespread misconception, even among doctors that removal of the uterus, without removal of the ovaries has little or no long-term health consequences for the woman.

Though fertility is a biological phenomenon there are a number of other factors influencing the levels and differentials of fertility among tribals.

The status of women in many parts of rural India is low. The situation is even worse among tribal communities or primitive societies, which constitute approximately 7.5 percent of the total population of the country [1]. In such