Explained: Can Droupadi Murmu help bridge Mayurbhanj's development gap?

Education, healthcare, access to basic facilities are lower than national average

Presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu would be the first person from the tribal community to occupy the post, and only the second woman to be India’s president after Pratibha Patil.  

Women in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, to which she belongs, have multiple gaps on key indicators, shows data from the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), which was conducted between 2019-21.

Women have a literacy rate of 58.6 per cent in the district. This is lower than 69.5 per cent in Odisha, and 71.5 per cent in India overall. It is, however, slightly better than the 58.3 per cent