Still out of Focus:
Status of Children in India 2008
Status of Children in India 2008
Summary Report
HAQ's Third Status Report on India's children comes at a time when the country is trying to build the image of an emerging economic power, even while contending with a deepening global economic slowdown, preparing itself to host the Commonwealth Games 2010, grappling with the challenges from natural and environmental disasters, and fighting terrorism, insurgency and communal-ethnic violence tearing at its social fabric.
A country that has the resources to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon is however unable to save its children from starvation. Ranking India 66th among 88 countries, the Global Hunger Index 2008 shows that despite close to 9 per cent economic growth for the past five years, the hunger situation here is the second worst in Asia and worse than in 25 Sub-Saharan nations. UNICEF has warned that the current global food crisis, with escalating food inflation, has placed more than 150 million children in India at the risk of becoming malnourished.[1] Madhya Pradesh is the hungriest state in the country, followed by Jharkhand and Bihar.[2] Emerging challenges such as rising food prices and diversion of global resources to bio-fuels are severely impacting poor families, who have to cut back on the number of meals in a day. This has a dramatic impact on child nutrition because children need to be fed frequently.[3] Without a major policy shake-up and more efficient implementation of the nutrition programmes, India is unlikely to reach the millennium development goal by 2015.
The influence of "corporatisation" of the social sector is there for all to see. Education, health care sectors are already seeing increasing privatisation. Abdication of state responsibility is evident in the increasing moves to hand over the running of institutions, such as care institutions for children to private bodies. This is evident in the raging debate in the government over pre-cooked packaged food versus hot meals for children, first in the mid-day meal scheme and now in the Anganwadis, and the tremendous increase in expenditure on basic services such as education and health. While an average working class family was spending around Rs. 25 per month on education of their children in 1981-82, the amount increased around 1150 per cent, or by almost 12.5 times, to Rs. 306 in 1999-2000. Similarly, expenditure on health care went up by 1037 per cent and on housing by 935 per cent.[4]
Yet, even as average income rises and poverty level goes down, hunger and inequality are on the rise in many parts of India. Growing consumerism, conflict and violence, lack of access to education and health, and exclusionary policies are contributing to making children more vulnerable. No child is safe, and girl, Dalit, disabled, tribal and minority children are more at risk because of their already marginalised socio-economic status.
For millions of children across India, their basic right of having their birth registered is still not fulfilled. The official recording of a child's birth is the most important event in a child's life. It establishes the existence of the child under law and provides the foundation for her to exercise many of her rights, including access to adequate early childhood care that ensures her maturing into a healthy and able citizen.[5]
About the Status Report 2008
This year's status report thus focuses on exclusion and discrimination. Despite constitutional guarantees and legal provisions, children continue to be discriminated on the basis of caste, ethnicity and gender. Children with disabilities are excluded from mainstream education, and other basic services that should be available to all children.Despite constitutional guarantees and legal provisions, children continue to be discriminated against on the basis of caste, ethnicity and gender. Discrimination is at the base of many child rights violations. Indeed, an analysis of the programmes and the way they are implemented in the country often leads to further marginalisation and exclusion. Is that we would refer to as “planned development”? Children from certain socio-economic backgrounds who are poor and belong to minority, tribal, dalit or migrant backgrounds face discrimination in a number of ways. They are disproportionately represented among juveniles who are imprisoned, are less likely to be able to access education and health care services, more likely to be victims of violence and exploitation, trafficked and recruited as child soldiers.
In its work for and with children, HAQ has always stood beside the most vulnerable and excluded. With a clear mandate to mainstream children's issues into all development agenda, while working towards policy change and governance so as to ensure spaces for children, HAQ strives to draw attention to the most vulnerable and the most discriminated in all its work. This year's report thus focuses on exclusion and discrimination; beginning with the very first discrimination that children suffer is on account of their age - as children resulting in their non-recognition as citizens with equal rights. Even though a rights-based approach demands addressing the root causes of a problem, when it comes to planning for children, the impact of macro and micro developments in the country on children and their rights is seldom assessed and taken into account. Unless all government policies and actions, be it the agricultural policy, the drugs policy, India’s policy on displacement and rehabilitation, forest laws, mining policy and the like, are examined from a child rights lens, any attempts to address violation or denial of children’s rights will stand defeated, leaving scope for more and more children to fall out of the social security and safety net.
HAQ's Third Status Report on India's children comes at a time when the country is trying to build the image of an emerging economic power, even while contending with a deepening global economic slowdown, preparing itself to host the Commonwealth Games 2010, grappling with the challenges from natural and environmental disasters, and fighting terrorism, insurgency and communal-ethnic violence tearing at its social fabric.
A country that has the resources to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon is however unable to save its children from starvation. Ranking India 66th among 88 countries, the Global Hunger Index 2008 shows that despite close to 9 per cent economic growth for the past five years, the hunger situation here is the second worst in Asia and worse than in 25 Sub-Saharan nations. UNICEF has warned that the current global food crisis, with escalating food inflation, has placed more than 150 million children in India at the risk of becoming malnourished.[1] Madhya Pradesh is the hungriest state in the country, followed by Jharkhand and Bihar.[2] Emerging challenges such as rising food prices and diversion of global resources to bio-fuels are severely impacting poor families, who have to cut back on the number of meals in a day. This has a dramatic impact on child nutrition because children need to be fed frequently.[3] Without a major policy shake-up and more efficient implementation of the nutrition programmes, India is unlikely to reach the millennium development goal by 2015.
The influence of "corporatisation" of the social sector is there for all to see. Education, health care sectors are already seeing increasing privatisation. Abdication of state responsibility is evident in the increasing moves to hand over the running of institutions, such as care institutions for children to private bodies. This is evident in the raging debate in the government over pre-cooked packaged food versus hot meals for children, first in the mid-day meal scheme and now in the Anganwadis, and the tremendous increase in expenditure on basic services such as education and health. While an average working class family was spending around Rs. 25 per month on education of their children in 1981-82, the amount increased around 1150 per cent, or by almost 12.5 times, to Rs. 306 in 1999-2000. Similarly, expenditure on health care went up by 1037 per cent and on housing by 935 per cent.[4]
Yet, even as average income rises and poverty level goes down, hunger and inequality are on the rise in many parts of India. Growing consumerism, conflict and violence, lack of access to education and health, and exclusionary policies are contributing to making children more vulnerable. No child is safe, and girl, Dalit, disabled, tribal and minority children are more at risk because of their already marginalised socio-economic status.
For millions of children across India, their basic right of having their birth registered is still not fulfilled. The official recording of a child's birth is the most important event in a child's life. It establishes the existence of the child under law and provides the foundation for her to exercise many of her rights, including access to adequate early childhood care that ensures her maturing into a healthy and able citizen.[5]
About the Status Report 2008
This year's status report thus focuses on exclusion and discrimination. Despite constitutional guarantees and legal provisions, children continue to be discriminated on the basis of caste, ethnicity and gender. Children with disabilities are excluded from mainstream education, and other basic services that should be available to all children.Despite constitutional guarantees and legal provisions, children continue to be discriminated against on the basis of caste, ethnicity and gender. Discrimination is at the base of many child rights violations. Indeed, an analysis of the programmes and the way they are implemented in the country often leads to further marginalisation and exclusion. Is that we would refer to as “planned development”? Children from certain socio-economic backgrounds who are poor and belong to minority, tribal, dalit or migrant backgrounds face discrimination in a number of ways. They are disproportionately represented among juveniles who are imprisoned, are less likely to be able to access education and health care services, more likely to be victims of violence and exploitation, trafficked and recruited as child soldiers.
In its work for and with children, HAQ has always stood beside the most vulnerable and excluded. With a clear mandate to mainstream children's issues into all development agenda, while working towards policy change and governance so as to ensure spaces for children, HAQ strives to draw attention to the most vulnerable and the most discriminated in all its work. This year's report thus focuses on exclusion and discrimination; beginning with the very first discrimination that children suffer is on account of their age - as children resulting in their non-recognition as citizens with equal rights. Even though a rights-based approach demands addressing the root causes of a problem, when it comes to planning for children, the impact of macro and micro developments in the country on children and their rights is seldom assessed and taken into account. Unless all government policies and actions, be it the agricultural policy, the drugs policy, India’s policy on displacement and rehabilitation, forest laws, mining policy and the like, are examined from a child rights lens, any attempts to address violation or denial of children’s rights will stand defeated, leaving scope for more and more children to fall out of the social security and safety net.
Copies of the report are available. Contact: info@haqcrc.org
Phone:91-1126490136/26492551
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[1] International Food Policy Research Institute. Global Hunger Index 2008
[2] Damien Grammaticas, Food warning for Indian children BBC News, 13 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7398750.stm.
[3] Purnima Menon, Anil Deolalikar and Anjor Bhaskar. The India State Hunger Index: Comparisons Of Hunger Across States. International Food Policy Research Institute.October 14, 2008
[4]Network for Social Acountability "http://nsa.org.in/Policybrief. "How the Working Class has Performed in the Turbulent Years of Liberalization? Preliminary Analysis of the main findings of the Working Class Income & Expenditure Survey".
[5] Jonathan Todres, Birth Registration: An Essential First Step Toward Fulfilling the Rights of All Children .Human Rights Brief. Vol. 10 No. 3 pp. 32-35. 2003.
_____________________________________________________________
[1] International Food Policy Research Institute. Global Hunger Index 2008
[2] Damien Grammaticas, Food warning for Indian children BBC News, 13 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7398750.stm.
[3] Purnima Menon, Anil Deolalikar and Anjor Bhaskar. The India State Hunger Index: Comparisons Of Hunger Across States. International Food Policy Research Institute.October 14, 2008
[4]Network for Social Acountability "http://nsa.org.in/Policybrief. "How the Working Class has Performed in the Turbulent Years of Liberalization? Preliminary Analysis of the main findings of the Working Class Income & Expenditure Survey".
[5] Jonathan Todres, Birth Registration: An Essential First Step Toward Fulfilling the Rights of All Children .Human Rights Brief. Vol. 10 No. 3 pp. 32-35. 2003.
