Musings: 'India's children don't have much to cheer on Children's Day'

'India's children don't have much to cheer on Children's Day'

written by indianachu at Friday, November 13, 2009

It's Children's Day Saturday. However, a bulk of the country's kids don't have much reason to celebrate, as they struggle everyday against vices like child labour, sex selection and malnutrition, and education is still a far-fetched dream for many, say civil society representatives.

According to ActionAid, an international charity, almost half of India's children are underfed.

Quoting the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2006, Babu Matthew of ActionAid said 46 percent children under the age of three are underweight. Also, 70 percent of all Indian children under five are anaemic.

Drawing up a report card on the status of children in India, Save the Children, another international charity, said that India scores a dismal two out of 10 on the parameter of health.

Ananthapriya Subramanian of Save the Children said: 'Article 6 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) specifically states that member states must recognise every child's inherent right to life. Yet in India two million children below the age of five die every year from preventable and treatable diseases.'

Nov 14-21 is being celebrated across the world as the UNCRC week, however India doesn't have much reason to join in the celebrations, she said.