While a large number of primary health centres and subcentres have been created as part of the government's 'Health for All' programme, surveys such as NFHS 1 and 2 reveal that health services either do not reach disadvantaged sections or are not accessed by them. This paper assesses the extent of inequalities in health care and nutritional status across states with a focus on caste and tribe. It examines how far these inequalities are a result of caste/tribe per se or whether they can be attributed to differential economic and educational conditions of individuals belonging to different caste/tribe categories.