India fares badly in child development index
India has slipped by 12 ranks in the global grading on the child development index, denoting health, education and nutrition, between 1995 and 2010.
Japan is the best place in the world to be a child while Somalia is the worst, a latest report has suggested.
The Child Development Index report released by Save the Children makes an aggregate analysis of the Child Development Index in three time periods – 1995-1999, 2000-2004 and 2005-2010 of 141 countries.
India’s poor performance comes in the context of as many as127 countries improving their scores during this period. India’s CDI fell by three ranks (100 to 103) between 1995 and 1999 and by another nine ranks (103 to 112) between 2005 and 2010. Of 141 countries that have been ranked, India is among the only 14 whose rank has dropped.
India reports 1.25 million infant deaths annually, 42 per cent of its children are underweight, 58 per cent children are stunted by the age of two years, and 8.1 million children are out of school with a huge chunk of them being from the rural areas.
The CDI, launched in 2008 as a tool to monitor the progress in child well-being, ranks the best and worst countries to be a child and improvements in child well-being. The 2012 edition shows some encouraging results. On an average, the lives of children globally in the indicators improved by over 30 per cent. This means that the chances of a child going to school were one-third higher, and the chances of an infant dying before their fifth birthday were one-third lower at the end of the 2000 than a decade before. During this period child well-being improved in 90 per cent of the countries surveyed.
Even more encouragingly, this historic progress has been accelerating dramatically in recent years. From the first half of the 2000s to the second, overall rates of progress in child well-being almost doubled compared to the end of the 1990s (an average improvement of 22 per cent, up from 12 per cent) and primary school enrolment was even more impressive, as the rate of improvement more than doubled during the 2000s (from11 per cent to 23 per cent; and from 14 per cent to 32 per cent respectively).
Save the Children says that a significant rise in acutely malnourished children threatens impressive progress in cutting child mortality and getting more children into school.
Why is this article not in the headlines? Although the information is no
secret, issues like this need to be given more prominence. A regular
coverage, even dedicating a weekly column, would go a long way to stir
our nation's collective conscience, of politicians and citizens alike,
and maybe, result in some action.
Heavily borrowing from Abraham Lincoln I would say the following :
Those who deprive others' children of their happiness deserve it not for themselves and under a just God will soon be deprived of the same.
Already our political and NGO phillanthrophy is ruining in many areas where the tradition was not respected. For example till the age of 6/7 child hood need be free with in the traditional set of brought. In India invisible forces will mores and codes always will protect and will take care better than the school teachers and warderns/govt.or ngos. Stop poking to areas where you dry intellects are allowed to go. For example in a forest all elephants un accounted is for reseved for illegal trading . Records are good to take one from bail when he is charged crime he committed there . In Thailand and Africa it is proven . In the case of Children some one need this ,who knows what . Hence do not poke nose in areas like this .
In India many grownup men and women tend to exploit others' children. When I was young unfortunately I used to go to others' houses including my paternal aunt to play.Unfortunately with no conscience whatsoever they used to send me on errands as though I was their servant. And then my elder sister got widowed and came to live with my parents with her children ages 2 and 4. My maternal grandmother at that time advised my younger sisters, " With others' children you have the right only to pamper them. You have no right to scold them or beat them." One should have such a mettle as my grandmother did to erase any exploitation of the children. It used to be common for some teachers to beat the students. Those teachers were like savages. Pertinent question is, " Must we wait for further exploitation or should we feel morally compelled to act now ?"
Everywhere from child care, cleanliness and infrastructure(road accidents) we have been moved down in ranks internationally. Because other countries worked towards improving the condition while in India it has worsened. India is in the peak of scams-equal to Egypt, Syria.. where they fought for freedom, and we are democratic country and even judges can be bought!!
In Chilean Nobel Laureate Gabriel Mistrel words ,"We are guilty of many errors and many faults,but our worst crime is abandoning children-children cannot wait.Now is when their bones are being formed,their blood is being made and their senses are being developed.To them we cannot answer'tomorrow',we must answer'today'".Children have been sadly negleted during six decades in India.Children care must begin with the nutrition and medical need from womb.In October 2011 a US report cautioned," Children in India are engaged in the worst forms of child labour.Children who work in agriculture carry heavy loads and apply harmful pesticides.Children work long hours in cramped spaces."Tha answer is a notional health care programme for each children and pregnant mother.In this programme none is left unattended. Supervisory mechanism and accountability to safeguard against absenteeism,medicine pilferage and corruption be in place as a first step.Tution fee 'free' primary education for every chid.
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