UNICEF baseline survey on children and women

New Delhi, Sept 7: India has more than 400 million children below the age of 18 years which is larger than the population of all other countries except China and constitutes about one-fifth of the child population of the world, Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation G K Vasan said here today.

Noting that every year about 26 million children are born of whom about 1.5 million children die before reaching their first birthday and 2.2 million before their fifth birthday, Mr Vasan said a large number of these deaths were due to diseases which were preventable.

The Minister made these comments while releasing the results of the UNICEF baseline survey on Well-being of Children and Women conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), under his Ministry.

As a nation committed to achieving the time-bound goals and targets set out in the Millennium Development Goals, a large number of which are related to the well-being of children and women, it was no longer relevant to discuss the status of children and women at the country level or even state level. "One has to now go down to the district level and the levels below to understand the situation there to make any meaningful interventions for improvement in the situation of children and women," Mr Vasan said.

"But what distinguishes India is not merely the sheer numbers, but rather the complex pattern of difference that emerges through gender, poverty and states," he said, adding "while on one extreme Madhya Pradesh has an Infant Mortality Rate of 79 per 1,000, Kerala has reached 12. The chance of a girl child reaching her fifth birthday is lower than a boy child." Pointing to the complex and paradoxical setting that makes planning and implementing developing work in India so challenging, Mr Vasan noted the marked disparities between regions and social groups, between rich and poor and between the sexes.

The survey covered 2,580 villages on sample basis from 43 districts of 14 states, which are the focal districts of the Government of India-UNICEF Country Programme of Cooperation Cycle of 2003-2007. The main objective of the survey was to provide key indicators of the well-being of children and women ranging from village infrastructure and service facilities covering sanitation, hygiene and drinking water, health of children and mothers, schooling and educational attainment of children especially of girl's education, child protection and knowledge, aptitude and practices about reproductive tract infections/sexually transmitted infections (RTI/STI) and HIV/AIDS in the rural areas.

Some of the key results brought out by the baseline survey were: -- Immunisation : Only 5 per cent children were fully immunised in Gaya district of Bihar and Lalitpur of Uttar Pradesh whereas in Tumkur district of Karnataka the level has reached more than 90 per cent. Again within Karnataka, Raichur could immunise only 23 per cent of its children.

-- Institutional Deliveries: In West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, Dangs of Gujarat and Koraput of Orissa, all tribal districts, less than 10 per cent deliveries occur in institutions. The percentage of institutional deliveries is as high as 84 per cent in Tiruvellore district of Tamil Nadu.

-- Age at Marriage: In Tonk district of Rajasthan, the percentae of women married before age 18 is about 80 per cent, while on the other side in Dibrugarh of Asom, only 13 per cent women are married before reaching their legal age.

Earlier, UNICEF Deputy Director, Programmes Eimar Barr said the UN agency was working intensively in 16 districts through an integrated approach by engaging the community in participatory planning and empowering them in preparing and monitoring plans at their level.

He said the results would be discussed in the respective districts through workshops to effect improvement in the lives of children and women in these areas.

NSSO Director General and CEO K V Rao and National Statistical Commission Chairman S D Tendulkar also spoke.

UNI