Patharia, a village-situated in the Bundhelkund region is stark contrast to other villages. Inhabited by the Bedia tribe, a part of the vimukta jati where adult members in the family never worked and depended solely on the earnings of the young girl involved in prostitution.

In the last decade, several international and national movements have focused their attention, on the long neglected areas of women's reproductive health.

The focus on mother and child health as a key element in Indian health policy evolved out of what was identified as one of the strongest explanatory factors for continued high fertility, viz., the high infant mortality rates.

There is a growing recognition that gynaecological morbidity is an important health problem among poor women in India.