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Kota student suicides reach Rajya Sabha, Congress MP demands law to review coaching centres

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Coaching centres and parents are equally responsible for putting pressure on children, the Congress MP said.

Kota Coaching
 

As the spate of suicides by students preparing for competitive exams in Kota continues unabated, the issue finally found a forum in the Rajya Sabha.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Congress MP from Himachal Pradesh, Viplove Thakur, said that there should be a law to review coaching centres in the country. "We need a law to review coaching centres. There should be an enquiry into the courses they provide to students, the number of hours they teach and if they stop children from taking part in other activities," the Congress MP said.

"It is a question of students' lives here. Coaching centres operating in the country, especially the ones in Kota, Rajasthan, put immense pressure on students to perform well in academics. This (pressure) is killing the children's initiative. Parents also support the coaching centres and push students to get higher marks and distinctions," she added.

Urging the HRD minister to look into the "serious matter", Thakur said that these children, hardly 18 or 19 years old, haven't seen much in life. They are only asked to focus on one thing – to study, score good marks and get into reputed institutions. 

These ambitions, of parents and coaching institutions, placed on young shoulders sometimes prove to be very taxing and students resort to drastic measures. 

"The system of education should change. While competition is required to move ahead, it should not compel our children to take their own lives," she stated. 
 

The HRD minister, Prakash Javadekar, was not present in the House, and Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu said "These coaching centres are spread across the country. Such incidents (of student suicides) have been reported in the media also. About the concerns expressed by the hon. Member, I will convey it to the HRD Minister and ask him to do the needful."
 

On Wednesday, a 16-year-old from Bihar, who was preparing for engineering entrance exams in Kota, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling fan in the rented accommodation he was staying in.
Earlier, on January 19, another student from Himachal Pradesh allegedly committed suicide in Kota. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) aspirant from Himachal Pradesh, was found dead in her hostel room. 
A staggering 1.75 lakh students from across India flock to the biggest coaching hub in the country to prepare for several competitive examinations. 45 student suicides due to failure in examinations were reported in 2014, whereas 17 ended their lives in 2015, according to National Crime Records Bureau data. Over the last decade, scores of students have reportedly committed suicide, with most of them attributed to the fear of failure

Courtesy: The News Minute

 

आदिवासी बच्चियों को देह व्यापार मे धकेलने के मामले में रात भर चली कोर्ट की कार्रवाई

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कोरबा। छत्तीसगढ़ के कोरबा के वनांचल क्षेत्र लेमरू से करीब डेढ़ साल पहले दो आदिवासी बच्चियों को ले जाकर देह व्यापार के मामले में कोर्ट ने सुनवाई की। सुबह से लेकर शाम तक चली सुनवाई के दौरान स्पेशल कोर्ट ने 11 में से 9 अपराधियों को सजा सुनाई है। जिसमें 8 अपराधियों को आजीवन कारावास की सजा दी है। वहीं पर्याप्त साक्ष्य के  अभाव के चलते कोर्ट ने 2 अपराधियों को बरी कर दिया है। 

Court
 
9 जून 2015 को उरगा थाना क्षेत्र की पुलिस ने देह व्यापार करने वालों के बड़े गिरोह का भंडाफोड़ किया था। मामले के मुख्य आरोपी राजेंद्र पटेल और उसकी पत्नी को पुलिस ने गिरफ्तार किया था।  पुलिस ने बाद में देह व्यापार से जुड़े अन्य अपराधियों जिनमें पवन कटेवार, महिला दलाल दुर्गा सिंह, बेबी उर्फ पिंकी, ड्राइवर संतोष प्रजापति सहित ग्राहक जॉनक्रुश तिग्गा, शेख शाहवाली, नितेश उर्फ वासु, रवि अग्रवाल और भुखन कश्यप को भी पुलिस ने पकड़ा था।
 
गिरफ्तारी के बाद सभी आरोपी जिला जेल में कैद थे। इस चर्चित केस की सुनवाई स्पेशल कोर्ट में चल रही थी। मामले की सुनवाई करते हुए स्पेशल कोर्ट के जज विजय कुमार एक्का ने साक्ष्य के अभाव में दो आरोपी भुखन कश्यप और रवि अग्रवाल ने दोष मुक्त करार दिया। वहीं मुख्य आरोपी राजेंद्र पटेल सहित बाकी दोषियों को कोर्ट के आदेशानुसार तुरंत जेल भेज दिया गया है।

Courtesy: National Dastak
 

बीजेपी दलित विरोधी मानसिकता से ग्रस्त है- मायावती

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बुलंदशहर। उत्तर प्रदेश में विधान सभा चुनाव के चलते सभा राजनीतिक दल अपनी ताबड़तोड़ रैलियां कर रहे हैं। चुनाव प्रचार के मामले में बीएसपी पार्टी किसी भी राजनीतिक पार्टी से पीछे नहीं है। 1 फरवरी को मेरठ से चुनावी रैली का आगाज करने वाली बीएसपी पार्टी सूबे में पूरी ताकत झोंक रही है। चुनावी प्रचार की कमान खुद बीएसपी सुप्रीमों मायावती ने संभाली है।

Mayawati

चुनाव प्रचार के दूसरे दिन आज बसपा सुप्रीमो ने बुलंदशहर में एक चुनावी जनसभा को संबोधित किया। अपने में संबोधन में सूबे की पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री सपा, कांग्रेस और बीजेपी पर तीखे हमले किए। भारी जनसमर्थन को संबोधित करते हुए उन्होंने कहा कि प्रदेश अब कोई स्मारक नहीं बनेगा और न ही मूर्तियां लगाई जाएंगी। मायावती ने साफ सुथरे प्रशासन की बात कहते हुए कहा कि जो अपराधी हैं सरकार बनने पर सलाखों के पीछे होंगे।
 
मायावती ने बीजेपी पर बरसते हुए कहा कि बीजेपी दलित विरोधी है। उन्होंने लोगों से कहा कि बीजेपी, सपा और कांग्रेस के गठबंधर को वोट न देकर बेदाग रही बीएसपी को वोट दें। उन्होंने कहा कि प्रदेश में बसपा की पूर्ण बहुमत की सरकार बनेगी। इसे कोई रोक नहीं सकता।
 
समाजवादी पार्टी के बारे में बसपा सुप्रीमों ने कहा कि इस चुनाव में सपा को काफी नुकसान होगा। क्योंकि मुख्यमंत्री अखिलेश यादव ने अपने चाचा और मुलायम के भाई शिवपाल सिंह यादव को बहुत अपमानित किया है। उन्होंने कहा सपा में इस समय दो खेमे हैं। ये दोनों खेमे अंदर ही अंदर एक दूसरे को हराने में कोई कसर नहीं छोड़ेंगे। इस पार्टी को वोट देने से अल्पसंख्यक वोट भी बेकार जाएगा। सूबे की मौजूदा सरकार से सभी वर्ग की हालत खराब हो गई है।  

बसपा सुप्रीमो ने कहा कि बीजेपी के पास उत्तर प्रदेश में मुख्यमंत्री पद का कोई चेहरा नहीं है इसीलिए अभी तक बीजेपी ने सीएम कैंडिडेट के नाम का खुलासा नही किया है। मायावती ने आगे कहा कि बीजेपी ने अपने करीबी लोगों को बचाया जबकि मेरी सरकार ने भ्रष्ट लोगों के खिलाफ कार्रवाई की है। भाजपा जातिवादी मानसिकता से ग्रसित है जिसके चलते प्रदेश सहित पूरे देश में दलितों का शोषण किया जा रहा है।

Courtesy: National Dastak

Indian Children Escape Attention of the Powerful: Budget 2017-2018

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Some Cheer But More Tears

Indian Children

The Modi Regime’s third budget has seen a sharp cut in funding related to schemes addressing needs of India’s crucial sector, it’s children. Children have received 3.32 per cent resources of the total Union budget in 2017-18. This remains same as the allocation in the Union Budget last year.

In 2017-18, the share of child health stands to be a mere 0.12 per cent of the total Union Budget. Although there has been an inconsistent trend in financing the health sector for children, with the figures going up and down in the previous years, the needs of child health have remained neglected, and this is visible even in the 2017-18 budget.

The implementation of the promises of the National Policy for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) 2013 through the ICDS and other structures necessitates a re-look at the allocations. This includes upgradation of crèche schemes to serve as vehicles to help young children develop holistically. The scheme related to crèches received increased allocation of Rs. 200 Crores in 2017-18 as it was Rs. 150 Crores in 2016-17 Budget, a 33.3 per cent increase. An interesting addition was the allocation of Rs. 0.63 crores in 2017-18 for crèche facilities for the para-military forces – CISF, ITBP and SSB, which had no mention in the last year’s budget.
 
Since the survival and health of infants is closely linked to that of the mother’s heath, appropriate allocation and spending under IGMSY and JSY as per programme commitments must be ensured.IGMSY received a substantial increase of575 per cent this year, (from Rs. 400 Crores in 2016-17 to Rs. 2700 in 2017-18) which reflects on the government’s commitment towards mother and child care.

Mr. Jaitley emphasized that his budget this year was for the Dalits, Tribals, Minorities and Women. How does he justify the cut in budgets for schemes for education for SC boys?
 
A detailed analysis of the budgetary allocations for children has been undertaken by Haq, Centre for Child Rights. The Report may be read here.

Extracts:

Key Points for Children

  • The share of children in the Union Budget 2017-18 has remained the same as 2016-17. 
  • Education saw an increase of six per cent in absolute terms. Despite this increase to Rs. 50300.53 Crores in 2017-18, it has failed to reach the amount allocated for the schemes/programmes in 2014-15 of Rs. 58544.42 Crores prior to devolution. Moreover it is a concern that its share has fallen from 2.40 per cent to 2.34 per cent within the Union Budget. 
  • Child Development has received a 13.32 per cent increase in allocation in 2017-18. As a share of the Union Budget it has gone up from 0.77 per cent to 0.80 per cent. 
  • Child protection received more attention witha 55per cent increase from last year (2016-17). Despite this, the share in the Union Budget has increased from a meager 0.03 per cent to 0.05per cent. 
  • ICPS, the flagship programme, received Rs. 648 Crores in 2017-18, an increase of 63 per cent from last year’s Rs. 397 Crores (2016-17) and 61 per cent from 2015-16. 
  • One of the flagship schemes to fulfill the nutritional needs of young children – ICDS, remains under resourced with Rs. 15245.19 Crores allocation. 
  • India’s overall public health expenditure is just 1.2 per cent of its GDP as against the WHO standard of at least three per cent of GDP. Child health continues to have the same allocation as last year,a meagre 0.12 per cent share in the Union Budget 2017-18. Although in absolute terms there is an increase in 13.46 per cent. 
  • Interestingly, many of the schemes/ programmes have shown substantial increase inallocations compared to Union Budget 2016-17:
  • In Statement 12, the overall allocation for children under the Department of Health and Family Welfare has increased by 13.46 per cent. 
  • The overall allocations for children related schemes/ programmes under the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment has shown a decrease of 37.18 per cent – from Rs. 1017.05 Crores to Rs. 638.93 Crores.

 
Child Health
In 2017-18, the share of child health stands to be a mere 0.12 per cent of the total Union Budget. Although there has been an inconsistent trend in financing the health sector for children, with the figures going up and down in the previous years, the needs of child health have remained neglected, and this is visible even in the 2017-18 budget.

The Finance Minister in his speech mentioned that an “action plan has been prepared to reduce IMR from 39 in 2014 to 28 by 2019 and MMR from 167 in 2011-13 to 100 by 2018-2020. 1.5 lakh Health Sub Centres will be transformed into Health and Wellness Centres.

Further, as announced by the Prime Minister, under the Maternity Benefit Scheme, Rs. 6,000 each would be transferred directly to the bank accounts of pregnant women who undergo institutional delivery and vaccinate their children. This is going to directly impact the health of children.

In the Union Budget 2017-18, Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital received 16.7 per cent increased allocation against the previous year.

It is critical to note here that Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital has been featuring in media reports for all the wrong reasons, thoughthehospital has been consistently receiving funds from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Despite this, the situation of children in this hospital remains outrageous. This indicates poor utilisation of funds as well as lack of adequate funds.

While the achievements of the National Health Mission in reaching affordable healthcare services must be applauded, the need of universal healthcare, both in terms of access and quality remains a cause of concern. In the Union Budget 2017-18, NRHM-RCH Flexi Pool observed a minor increase of 16 per cent from Rs. 2114.99 Crores in 2016-17 to Rs. 2454.42 Crores in 2017-18.
 
A Glimpse of Sectoral Allocations in BfC 2017-18…
Following the previous trends, despite almost 55 per cent increase in the child protection sector, it remains heavily under resourced this year too. This must be seen in the context of the major amendments in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, the current allocations are far away from meeting the requirements. Similarly, child health and child development remain to be nominally resourced and their share in both Union budget and within BfC, do not indicate towards major changes in the current scenario.

Child Development
The Development sector has been allocated 0.80 per cent of the total Union Budget this year. This is onlyThis is only 13.32 per cent increase against previous year’s allocation as it was only 0.77 per cent in the 2016-17 Budget.
According to the Ministry of Women and Child Development’s Rapid Survey on Children, 29.4 per cent children in the age group of 0-59 months have been found to be underweight[1]. Only 49.3 per cent Anganwadicentres had vaccination facility available and only 37.9 per cent children in the age group of 3-6 years are able to receive pre-school education through Anganwadicentres[2].

The 2013-14 survey mentions that 49.2 per cent of children aged 6 to 35 months availed supplementary food under the Anganwadi services. The figure was higher in rural areas (53.8 per cent) compared to urban areas (36.7 per cent). Only 44.2 per cent of the children aged 36-71 months and 40.7 per cent pregnant women availed supplementary food.[3]These figures indicate towards rising nutritional needs of children and also raise serious questions about poor coverage of Anganwadicentres in the country.

This year too, ICDS has not seen much increase and received only Rs. 15245.19 Crores, which is a mere 8.89 per cent of the total union Budget.

ICDS in its universalisationand in third phase of expansion faces many challenges such as inadequate availability of space for AnganwadiCentres (AWCs), vacant posts, low focus on growth monitoring, low focus on early childhood etc.

The Finance Minister announced that Mahila Shakti Kendras would be set up with an allocation of Rs. 500 crores in 14 lakh ICDSAnganwadiCentres. This will provide one stop convergent support services for empowering rural women with opportunities for skill development, employment, digital literacy, health and nutrition.

However what needs to be figured out here is that how the resources meant for children and adolescents as part of ICDS is going to be utilized towards women’s empowerment. Are resources going to be diverted / shared and children lose out in this process?

The National Nutrition Mission has been allocated Rs. 1100 Crores, an increase of 206 per cent from last year’s allocation of Rs. 360 Crores.

The implementation of the promises of the National Policy for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) 2013 through the ICDS and other structures necessitates a re-look at the allocations. This includes upgradation of crèche schemes to serve as vehicles to help young children develop holistically. The scheme related to crèches received increased allocation of Rs. 200 Crores in 2017-18 as it was Rs. 150 Crores in 2016-17 Budget, a 33.3 per cent increase. An interesting addition was the allocation of Rs. 0.63 crores in 2017-18 for crèche facilities for the para-military forces – CISF, ITBP and SSB, which had no mention in the last year’s budget.
 
Since the survival and health of infants is closely linked to that of the mother’s heath, appropriate allocation and spending under IGMSY and JSY as per programme commitments must be ensured.IGMSY received a substantial increase of575 per cent this year, (from Rs. 400 Crores in 2016-17 to Rs. 2700 in 2017-18) which reflects on the government’s commitment towards mother and child care.

 
Child Education
The total allocation for education (elementary and secondary) is Rs. 50300.53 Crores,which has been an increase of almost six per cent from the previous year.Even though education sector receives the highest share in the Union budget (2.34 percent) as well as within BfC (70.54 percent), it remains an under resourced area given the national and international commitments and the goal of spending six percent of the GDP on child education. The share of education within the Union Budget as well as the BfC has gone down from the previous year.

SarvaShikshaAbhiyaan (SSA)
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is the flagship programme for universal elementary education for children in the age group of 6-14 years, run by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).

RashtriyaMadhyamikShikshaAbhiyaan(RMSA)
RMSA, a centrally sponsored scheme launched in 2009, aimed at providing universal access to quality secondary education by 2017, removing gender, socio-economic and disability barriers.
Total allocation for RMSA for 2017-2018 is Rs. 3830Crores. The share of allocation has increased by 3.5 percent (from Rs. 3700 Croresto Rs. 3830Crores).
 
Mid-day Meal (MDM)
The Mid-day meal scheme of the Ministry of Human Resource Development entitles every child within the age group of 6 to 14 years, studying in classes I to VIII, to be provided meal free of charge in schools.
Mid-day Meal Scheme observed increase of 3.09percent in its allocation (from Rs. 9700 Croresin 2016-2017 to Rs. 10000 Crores in 2017-2018).
 
Child Protection
As we experienced in previous budgets, child protection sector continues to be on the periphery with the lowest share in the total Union Budget as well as BfC. This year, child protection received only 0.05 per cent of total allocations in the Union Budget and 1.49 per cent within BfC. Like other sectors, this sector too remains under resourced despite an allocation of Rs. 1062.43 Crores – an increase of 54.80 per cent.

This when the NCRB reports an increase of 5.3 per cent in crimes against children between 2014 and 2015,a total of 94,172 cases were registered in the country during 2015 as compared to 89,423 cases during 2014.[4]
The only scheme related to child labour in Statement 12, theNational Child Labour Projectobserved an increase of 14.3 per cent in allocation in the 2017-18 Union Budget (Rs. 140 Crores to Rs. 160 Crores).It must be noted that India is home to 12.6 million child labour[5] in the age group of 5-14 years. It is also commendable that after India winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the issue has got more attention, but the current allocations indicate towards grave insufficiency in order to eradicate this evil.

One of the biggest umbrella schemes to address the needs of child protection, Integrated Child Protection Scheme has seen a considerable increase by 63 per cent from the previous year’s budget – from Rs. 397 Crores in 2016-2017 to Rs. 648 Crores in 2017-18.

However the focus needs to be on the implementation of the scheme on the ground and monitoring of the outcomes.
The BetiBachaoBetiPadhao (BBBP) scheme, launched in January 2015, saw a 100 per cent increase in allocation, from Rs. 100 Crores in 2016-17 to Rs. 200 Crores in 2017-18.
 
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) emphasizes on the principle of universality and inviolability of child rights and focuses on protection of all children in the 0 to 18 years age group. NCPCR has been allocated a total sum of Rs. 19 Crores in the Union Budget 2017-18, the same as in previous year’s budget.
 
The total allocation for SSA is Rs. 23500.00 Crores in 2017-18, showing an increase by 4.44percent (Rs. 22500 Crores in 2016-17). However it still does not match the allocation of Rs. 27758.00 in 2014-15, prior to the devolution.

According to Accountability Initiative, in the FY 2016-17 the MHRD estimated a resource demand of Rs. 55,000 Crores, however the budget for the year allocated was Rs. 22,500 Crores.The expenditure on SSA as a share of total approved budgets has been decreasing. In FY 2015-16, 70 per cent of the approved budget was spent, down from 75 per cent in FY 2014-15. Due to lack of data on funds released by states for FY 2015-16, it is unclear whether the low expenditures are due to a delay in fund release or because of the low absorption capacity of the states.[6]

As the primary vehicle for implementing the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), with such gaps in the total allocation and the total approved budget, one could only see the non-implementation of this scheme in full spirit.

The ASER survey 2016[7]had some interesting observations on the education scenario in the country. At the all India level, the enrollment increased for all age groups between 2014 and 2016 in the government schools while no change was noticed in the enrollment in private schools during this period. The learning levels, both reading and arithmetic, had gone up in government schools. While there was improvement in school facilities in terms of accessibility to drinking water and toilet facilities, as well as increase in "small schools" in the government primary school sector, children's attendance did not show major change from 2014.

Conclusion

The fourth Union Budget presented by the current government does not show any remarkable change in the financial allocations for schemes and programmes for children in the country. While under some schemes/programmes there have been remarkable increase, it has been balanced by the decrease in others. Overall there has been an allocation of 3.32 per cent for children, the same as last year.

Mr. Jaitley emphasized that his budget this year was for the Dalits, Tribals, Minorities and Women. How does he justify the cut in budgets for schemes for education for SC boys?

(There is a 275% increase for the girls’ hostel scheme for SC girls). Where will these boys go? What is their future in the absence of hostels or scholarships? How will they stand up for India? 

The political commitment towards the young citizens of this nation is yet to be translated into allocation of financial resources towards their health, education, protection and development. What needs to be seen is how these schemes and programmes are implemented in the next financial year. Are our children going to benefit in terms of improvement in the quality of their health, education, development and protection?

Overall, this budget brings some cheers and some tears…
 


[2] Ibid
[3] Rapid Survey on Children, 2013-14, http://wcd.nic.in/sites/default/files/RSOC%20FACT%20SHEETS%20Final.pdf
[4]http://ncrb.nic.in/, Crime in India 2015, Chapter 6
[5] Census of India 2011
[6]Accountability Initiative, Budget Briefs, Vol 9, Issue 2, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), GOI, 2016-17, http://www.accountabilityindia.in/budget/briefs/download/1602