Background and objectives: Madhya Pradesh (MP) is one of the Empowered Action Group (EAG) states of India and is in a phase of demographic transition. The present paper attempts an analysis of the status of women and girl children of scheduled tribe (ST) dominated districts in comparison to other districts of the state.

Material and Methods: A Maternal Child Health Composite Index has been developed comprising of the six indices which are – index of female education, index of teenage fertility, index of medical attention at birth, index of infant mortality rate, index of birth order 4+ and index of total fertility based on data of 2001-’02 and of 2011-’13 obtained from different data sources like Census, Annual Health Survey, District Level Household Survey and Government of Madhya Pradesh.

Results: The findings indicate that although ST women and girl children are lagging behind in some of the socio-economic indicators in comparison to other women of the state, there has been an overall improvement in the maternal and child health status in the tribal dominated districts of the state during the last decade.

Conclusion: Results indicated lack of development in terms of socio-economic dimensions and shows poor demographic condition among scheduled tribe women and girls in MP. Findings also reflect below average condition among ST population for majority indicators like literacy, girl child education, ownership of household assets among women headed households and fertility.