Abhay and Rani Bang are Indian social activists and community health researchers who work in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, India. They are known for developing initiatives and programs focused on neonatal care, reproductive and maternal health, disease prevention and treatment, and rural development. Their work has been replicated in several developing countries and adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. In 2024, they were awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
In the 1980s, the Bangs founded the nonprofit organization Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH), where they trained community health workers to deliver reproductive and neonatal care services to tribal women. These trainings contributed to lower infant mortality rates in the region. Subsequently, they expanded their work to providing sex education to adolescents, supporting the rehabilitation of addicts, encouraging blood donations, and delivering healthcare services in rural India.
Early life
Abhay Bang Abhay Bang was born in 1950 in Wardha, Maharashtra, India, to economists Thakurdas and Suman Bang. His father was imprisoned for two years for participating in the Quit India Movement, a nationwide protest against the British rule. He was accepted into Ohio University to pursue his doctoral studies but turned down the offer upon Mahatma Gandhi's counsel and decided to work for social and political reform movements in rural India.
Abhay spent his childhood at Gandhi's ashram in Sevagram, attending a school that adhered to Nai Talim, an education system that encourages students to partake in manual labour to gain experiential knowledge.
Rani Bang Rani Bang (née Chari) was born in Chandrapur in 1951. Her father was a teacher and her mother was a homemaker.
Education Abhay and Rani met while studying for their Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (M.B.B.S.) degrees at the Nagpur University, Maharashtra. After graduating in 1972, they received their Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree in 1977 and 1976 respectively. The couple got married in 1977.
The Bangs also each hold a Master in Public Health, completed in 1984, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, United States.
Work From 1977 to 1983, Abhay and Rani Bang worked at Chetana Vikas, a Wardha-based rural development nonprofit, founded by Ashok (Abhay's brother) and Suman Bang.Bang, A. (n.d.). BIO DATA OF DR. ABHAY BANG. https://nirman.mkcl.org/doc/Bio_DrAbhay_and_DrRani_Bang-updated.pdf They encouraged landless agricultural labourers to organize and demand a fair minimum wage from the Employment Guarantee Scheme, but failed to negotiate a "substantial increase" in the wages. Upon further investigation, Abhay found that a committee appointed by the Maharashtra government had fixed the daily minimum wage of ₹4 based on the assumption that an average adult needs only 1800 calories in a day. Contrarily, the Indian Council of Medical Research recommends between 3,900 and 3,000 for hard labourers. In 1981, Abhay published a critique of the recommendations proposed by a committee, sharing his own calculations of the minimum wage, based on the revised calorie requirements, amounted to ₹12. A year later, the state government raised the minimum wage to ₹12.
In 1985, the Bangs moved to Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. In a former warehouse, they started treating patients and set up the nonprofit Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH). Through SEARCH, they gradually built trust with the local tribals to understand and address their healthcare needs.
Infant and child mortality The Bangs started holding regular People's Health Assemblies, allowing local inhabitants to voice their concerns, during which infant mortality emerged as one of the most pressing challenges. Their studies identified pneumonia, hypothermia, sepsis, perinatal asphyxia, and delayed breast feeding as the leading causes of death in infants. In response, they decided to implement a home-based neonatal care package to be delivered by a group of rural women trained in the basics of neonatal care. The women were taught how to diagnose pneumonia, resuscitate children, and administer antibiotics, including Vitamin K injections. Instead of locals travelling long distances to access the nearest hospital, the women (called arogyadoots or "health messengers") will carry a small health package and visit families in need of medical attention.
In 1988, the Bangs first presented their findings from this community-health initiative in The Lancet and faced scepticism regarding arogyadoots with "low level of education" administering neonatal care. However, since the inception of their childhood pneumonia management initiative in 1988 and the home-based neonatal programme in 1995, the infant mortality rate in Gadchiroli dropped from 121 per 100,000 live births in 1988 to 80 per 100,000 live births in 1990 and 30 per 100,000 live births by 2003.
The Bangs' neonatal care methods have been adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and the Indian Government, and implemented across low- and middle income countries (LMICs), including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Tanzania. In 2017, while hearing a series of public interest litigations (PILs) regarding the increase in "malnutrition-related deaths and illness" in the Melghat region of Vidarbha and surrounding tribal areas, the Bombay High Court accepted the Bangs' suggestions and recommendations on preventing malnutrition-driven infant and child mortality. The court directed the committee responsible for addressing malnutrition to incorporate the policy making solutions presented in their report, one of which focused on home-based neonatal and child care.
Liquor ban in Gadchiroli district The Gadchiroli district is the first district in Maharashtra where liquor has been banned due to public demand. The Bangs initiated a liquor ban campaign in 1990 by informing residents about the negative health effects of alcohol consumption. The movement resulted in the liquor ban in the district in 1992, being the first example in India of a liquor ban due to public demand.
In May 2012, Abhay Bang was a member of a panel to study a possible liquor ban in Chandrapur district. He advocates the need for an alcohol-free and tobacco-free society since, per the 2015 Global Burden of Diseases, alcohol and tobacco are two of the top ten causes of death and disease in India. Abhay Bang is developing a multi-pronged approach named Muktipath in the district of Gadchiroli to reduce the prevalence of alcohol and tobacco consumption there. He also welcomed the Supreme Court of India's ban on the location of liquor shops on state and national highways.
Reproductive health and maternal care In 1988, Rani Bang conducted a study in two Gadchiroli villages, Wasa and Amirza, to highlight the "large hidden burden of gynaecological diseases" in rural women. She found that despite 92% of them experiencing menstrual issues, infections, and infertility, only one in ten women had ever sought medical attention. In addition, her study uncovered that a prevailing misconception amongst the local pregnant women was that "a well-nourished foetus is lazy and harder to deliver." As a result, they were less likely to take supplements to support foetus growth, but more open to the idea of supporting their own health. Subsequently, she advocated for a comprehensive reproductive healthcare programme for rural women, training aryadoots and dais (traditional doulas) to become village-level community health workers.
Rani also discovered that "regressive interpretations of traditions" were commonplace in the tribal communities of Gadchiroli, leading to the mainstreaming of "antiquated concepts" such as kurma ghar characterized by small huts used to isolate women for the duration of their menstrual cycle. The huts accommodated three to four women at once and were sometimes in worse conditions than cattle sheds. Within the hut, the stock of period cloths often attracted lizards and mice. Until the end of their menstrual cycle, the women were considered untouchable, expected to cook for themselves, and often repurposed Mahua (Madhuca longifolia) leaves when they ran out of period cloths or pads. While some women embraced kurma without retaliation because it was their only chance to rest and spend time with friends, others feared "divine retribution" for defying the tradition. Given how "well-entrenched" the practice of kurma was, the Bangs, instead of attempting to trying to uproot it, decided to "revamp" it instead. They received support from Mukul Madhav Foundation to build upscale versions of kurma ghars equipped with modern facilities.
Rani's book, Putting Women First: Women and Health in a Rural Community (2010) documents her experience of addressing reproductive health and childcare issues in rural India.
Tribal health Abhay and Rani Bang have worked with the tribal communities in the forest area of the Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra since 1986. They identified malaria as the biggest health concern for this population. They sought to increase awareness by using insecticide-treated mosquito nets as a preventative measure alongside regular medical treatment among the local Adivasi.
They also run a mobile medical unit in the 48 tribal villages in the Dhanora block of Gadchiroli district and a network of village volunteers trained in providing primary care in these villages. In July 2017, the Government of Maharashtra formed a task force to control the spread of malaria in the district of Gadchiroli. Abhay Bang was appointed as the head of this task force which comprises the non-profit SEARCH, Tata Trusts, National Institute of Research and Tribal Health (NIRTH) and the Government of Maharashtra.
Abhay Bang is currently chairing a 13-member expert committee set up by the Union Health Ministry and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, tasked with creating a nationwide status report on tribal health issues, along with suggesting possible policy formulations. While the "old" problems of malaria, malnutrition, and mortality persist, Abhay Bang emphasizes "new" health issues among the Adivasi, partly caused by outside socio-cultural influences and market forces. Tribal women now list alcohol addiction and tobacco addiction among men as their biggest concern, with over 60 percent of adults in Gadchiroli consuming the latter daily. Combined with an increase in sodium consumption, hypertension rates have been increasing in these communities, according to Bang.
NIRMAN Started in 2006, NIRMAN brings together a group of youth aged between 18 and 28 years who are looking to give meaning to their lives. Abhay and Rani Bang's younger son, Amrut currently manages it.
NIRMAN looks at identifying and nurturing young social change-makers in Maharashtra. It is an educational process to train the youth to take up crucial issues and problems in the society. It provides guidance, expertise, and an environment to inculcate self-learning and encourages youth for social action. NIRMAN includes a series of 3 camps, each separated by 6 months. A group of NIRMAN participants will go through 3 camps in a period of one year. A camp generally runs for 7–10 days at SEARCH, Gadchiroli with a view encourage young Indian students to step out of their generally secure urban surroundings into the world of rural and tribal Indians to help them come face to face with the nation's plethora of social issues, and with people working hard to solve them.
NIRMAN is a learning process based on Nai Talim way of education introduced by Mahatma Gandhi. It believes in problem-based learning instead of classroom-based learning. This initiative is providing a common platform for youth to engage, self-educate and decide on how they can make a difference to the society.