When children lose their innocence

To adult warfare

About gods and their minions,

Apocalypse is here.

Then viper soul begins to peep

From out of Damien eye,

Teacher becomes predator,

And good  neighbour a spy.

“Development”  races  majestic

All the way to the moon,

While pride of   lucre’s forward march

Turns   citizen  into goon.

Thus are nations made supreme

By  an  Inquisitor  lord,

While  angels wring their helpless hands

To  their outdated god.

The post Apocalypse appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Bahraich: A 13-year-old boy died in a hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich district almost nine days after he was allegedly thrashed by his teacher.

The boy allegedly died due to severe internal bleedings, caused by injuries during the incident.

Rajesh Vishwakarma, the victim’s brother, told reporters: “My brother was beaten up by his teacher because of school fees of Rs 250 per month. I had paid it online but the teacher did not know and brutally beat up my brother.”

The victim’s uncle has now lodged a complaint with the Sirsiya police.

The incident has taken on a casteist colour with the boy’s family claiming that the victim was thrashed as he was a Dalit while the teacher belonged to the upper caste.

Shravasti SP Arvind K. Maurya said that a case has been registered and investigations were underway.

Last week, a nine-year-old Dalit boy, who was allegedly thrashed by his school teacher in Rajasthan, for touching a drinking water pot, also died.

Courtesy: The Daily Siasat

The post UP: Boy allegedly thrashed by teacher over fee payment, dies appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image Courtesy:freepressjournal.in

During the ongoing monsoon session, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Rameswar Teli, has answered questions about the number of deaths by suicide in the country due to unemployment.

Unable to provide data for 2020, the minister, in his written reply has revealed that 2,851 people have died by suicide in the year 2019 due to unemployment. Karnataka has the highest tally at 553, followed by Maharashtra (452), Tamil Nadu (251), Gujarat (219) and Uttar Pradesh (159). Karnataka’s tally has worryingly been the highest amongst other States and Union Territories in the years 2017 and 2018 at 375 and 464 respectively. Maharashtra recorded the highest number of suicides in 2016 at 403.

Total year wise data is as follows:

In addition to this, 24,568 children (above 14 years and below 18 years), have died by suicide between 2017 and 2019. In comparison, the rate of suicide for females is higher than males. As per the data provided by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), and referred to by the Centre, no transgender between the age group of 14 to 18 have died by suicide.

Other statistics related to suicide between the age group of 14 to 18 years, are as under:

The rate of suicide amongst the category 18 to 30 years, is also alarmingly high and has an increasing trend from 2017 to 2019. Over three years, 32 transgenders have reportedly died by suicide.

Statistics related to suicide between the age group of 18 to 30 years, is as under:

The answers may be read here: 

Related:

75,000 student suicides between 2007 and 2016 in India!
Another death by suicide at Tikri border, death toll reaches 214
Take decision about compensating families of suicide victim farmers who borrowed from private money lenders: Karnataka HC

The post Over 8,000 children died by suicide in 2019: Centre appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In an admission of a heart-rending reality that even after all these years India has failed to put an end to the scourge of child labour in India, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Rameswar Teli, informed the Lok Sabha that about 770 cases have been registered under Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 during 2019. This was part of his submission during the ongoing Monsoon Session of the Parliament.

Telangana recorded the highest number of cases under the Child Labour Act at 314, followed by Karnataka at 83, and Assam at 68. Surprisingly, the data from 2019 suggests that as many as 15 States and Union Territories have not reported any case involving child or adolescent labour. Those States/Union Territories are- Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Tripura, Chandigarh, Daman and Diu, Andaman and Nicobar Island, Lakshadweep and Puducherry.

The 770 figure also seems unbelievable against the whopping number of children rescued/ withdrawn from work, rehabilitated and mainstreamed under National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme. Between 2020 to 2021, as many as 58,289 children have been rescued or rehabilitated excluding the states of Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan, Nagaland and Uttarakhand. Except Nagaland, all these states have had cases registered under the Prohibition of Child Labour Act up until 2019.

Number of children rescued/withdrawn from work, rehabilitated and mainstreamed under National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme, year wise is as follows:

The written answer dated August 2 may be read here:

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) report titled Measuring Children’s Work in South Asia says that in India, over 12.9 million children between 7 to 17 years old, 5.1 percent of the total, are in employment, primarily working in agriculture and unpaid family work. The employment ratio for children in India more than doubles when they go from 12 to 14 years old, and doubles again when they grow from 14 to 15 years old.

Further, approximately 56.5 percent of 7-to 14-year-olds and 51.6 percent of 15- to 17-year-olds in employment work in agriculture, with manufacturing representing the next largest sector of employment for both age groups. The report also says, “Over 5.7 million children in India in the 5 to 17 years age group are engaged in child labour. More than 2.5 million of 15–17-year-old children are engaged in hazardous labour. Among all 5–17-year-olds, boys are more than three times as likely to be engaged in child labour as girls, and urban children are more likely to be child labourers than rural children.”

The entire report may be read here: 

The findings of the ILO report Child Labour: Global Estimates 2020: Trends and the Road Forward are more haunting that has predicted an additional 9 million children globally, who are at risk of being pushed into child labour by the end of 2022 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This report may be read here: 

Related:

SC seeks data on migrant children from all states
375 million Indian children to suffer after-effects of Covid-19 pandemic: State of India’s Environment 2021 report
Fewer Children Out Of School, But Basic Skills Stay Out Of Reach: New Study
Over 1.4 crore children in Bihar don’t have access to digital devices: Centre in LS

The post Child labour still prevalent in India appeared first on SabrangIndia.

It is not known if the Bishop of the Syro Malabar Church’s Pala diocese is an expert on reproductive rights of women. However, he has recently announced financial aid to those families who have five or more children in his diocese or jurisdiction. The sops were announced by the Pala bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangatt during an online meeting he had called, reported the Manorama. The sops will be given to couples who have been married after 2000. Posters to that effect were also put in circulation in the area. They, translated in the media reports stated, “Year of the Family, Live the joy of God’s love includes a monthly scholarship of Rs 1500, starting from the fourth child and to all future kids of a family, will be given education with scholarship at the church-run St Joseph’s College of Engineering and Technology, besides free medical facility for every child after the fourth will be offered at the church-run hospital.”

However, as soon as this announcement began to be reported by the media, the church leader said he stood by his words. Fr Joseph Kuttiankal, who heads the Family Apostolate under the church, told the media that the process of receiving applications for the grants will start soon and “most probably, we will be able to hand out assistance from August.” While the assistance of Rs 1,500 per month for families with five or more children, may seem meagre, it is the scholarships for engineering studies and free medical aid for pregnancy-related needs from the fourth child that may be a bigger incentive for many. According to a report in the New Indian Express, the Syro-Malabar Eparchy of Pala seems to be concerned about the community’s dwindling numbers. They have reportedly already called for “early marriages, larger families and avoiding contraceptive measures”, however none of that seem to have had much effect. When all else fails, it is hoped that financial aid yields the desired results. 

The news report quoted Fr Joseph Kuttiankal, director of the Family Apostolate saying the aid was offered because, “Often, families stop having children after the second or third child is born because of the increasing expenses involved in raising them.” He added that his church also “took into account the call for a larger family concept of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC).” However, he conceded that the call was not given based on any survey on birth and fertility rates among the community. “Having an organised system in the eparchy — right from the bishops to vicars of parishes — it is easy for us to understand the situation of families in the Church,” he declared. According to the news report the  KCBC had in 2008 initiated the concept of ‘larger families’ with three or more children. In 2017 the bishop of Thamarassery diocese had issued a pastoral letter “exhorting believers to ensure that their boys get married before the age of 25 and girls before they turn 23,” and the Idukki bishop had “issued a pastoral letter advising Church members to give up the use of contraceptives and other birth control measures.” No one knows if the Bishop had the consent of all the childbrearing age women members of the church, who would be the ones to get pregnant and give birth.

This plan seems to be in flow from the right wing’s selective narrative of the number of children a woman must bear. The male leadership, across religions, seem to have appointed themselves the decision makers of pregnancy and childbirth. 

Make more babies, woman!

The Dainik Bhasker recently reported from Rajasthan’s Bhilwara district, how hundreds of women here, over 40 years of age are being forced to become pregnant till they give birth to a male offspring. The women told Dainik Bhaskar that they were reduced to being “child-producing machines” even though their bodies felt “broken”. The report is based on data released by the PCPNDT (Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994) cell in Rajasthan. Bhilwara record showed that last year, 52 women above 40 years of age, who already had five daughters each, were “forced to become pregnant” to try for a son. There were over 2123 women of other ages who were pregnant after three daughters each and many had in fact had a pregnancy each year.

Apart from the obvious desire for a son, it is also the narrative that Hindu population will suffer, that right wing leaders, mostly males, have continuously given a call for women to produce more children. Most ‘notable’ are Sakshi Maharaj, and Sadhvi Prachi, who over the years have said things like “a Hindu woman must produce at least four children in order to protect Hindu religion.” 

Now, make less babies! 

In the states that want women to produce less children the situation is even more complicated. After the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission proposed the Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill, 2021, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has asked the state government to remove the one-child policy norm from the draft. According to news reports, the VHP thinks this clause can “lead to furthering of the imbalance between different communities”.  

Recently, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) sent its comments/suggestions to the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission over the proposed Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill, 2021. The comments/suggestions drawing reference from some experiments and worldwide trends that have shown that there is a “direct and deep correlation” between basic civic amenities and healthcare available for women, (including facilities for personal sanitation and hygiene) from marginalised sections, their access to education and health needs, nutrition etc., that also facilitates ready acceptance of population control practices. 

Crucially, the autonomy of women was explained thus: “Chapter II of the Bill lays down all such incentives and disincentives of having more than 2 children, that will hamper a woman’s ability to make an informed decision. It violates her right to privacy, autonomy, that consequently impinges on her reproductive rights.”

In the past, Bharatiya Janata Party politicians such as Surendra Singh have also taken on themselves to decide how many children a woman must have. In 2018, he said that Hindu families should have more children as “a gift from god”. He had told the media that every Hindu should have at least five children. He said this will make India “become strong, when Hindus are strong,” adding that Hindus were at a risk of becoming a minority if there is “no balance” in population control. This has often fed into communal anti-Muslim hate on the ground. Hindutva leadership often accused Muslims of having more children, and telling Hindu women to have more children too.  No one seems to be asking the women if they even want to have more children at all.

In yet another corner of the country, Assam  Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, like Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath, wants to take decisions related to population control. However, these “two-child” policy proposals also appear to unfairly target people from the minority community. In 2019, the Assam Cabinet had approved the “two-child” norm as mandatory for getting a government job or continuing in one. Even before this, in 2017, the Assam Assembly had passed a Population and Women Empowerment Policy according to which people with more than two children are barred from contesting local body elections. This was seen as a direct attempt to restrict the number of Muslims in the state administration given their traditionally large families. Now, Sarma says he has the support of notable minority rights groups like the All Assam Minority Students Union (AAMSU). Speaking to SabrangIndia, Abul Kalam Azad (Central Educational Secretary, AAMSU) confirmed this with a rider. “We welcome the two-child policy of the Assam government. But it should be applicable to all communities, not just Muslims,” he said.

It is yet to be seen if any of these men in power have had extensive discussions on reproductive rights, with the women who are the most impacted by any population relation policies. If yes, it is yet to be seen when those discussions will be put out in the public domain.

Related:

CJP moves NBSA against Zee News’ ‘Population Control’ show
No intention to bring in two child policy, fertility rates have declined: Centre in LS
CJP writes to UP Law Commission over the draft Population Control Bill of 2021
Is the Assam CM’s push for a “two-child policy” a tactic to exclude minorities?

The post Who will decide how many children an Indian woman should bear? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Smriti Irani, the Minister of Women and Child Development, referred to the recently released report of National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-20) to give details about malnourished children in the country.

As per the latest data between 2019 to 2020, Bihar has the highest number of underweight children at 41 percent. This is followed by Gujarat at 39.7 percent and Dadar & Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu at 38.7 percent. Maharashtra has recorded 36.1 percent underweight children, Karnataka is at 32.9 percent, Assam at 32.8 percent, West Bengal at 32.2 percent and Telangana at 31.8 percent. Mizoram has the lowest number of underweight children (12.7 percent).

Between 2018 and 2019, Dadar reported 35.8 percent underweight children, 3 percent less than the latest data. Similarly, there has been a 0.5 percent increase in Gujarat, 0.1 percent in Maharashtra, 3 percent in Assam and 0.6 percent in West Bengal. Out of the 22 States and UTs, 17 have reported an increase in the percentage of underweight children from 2018-2019 to 2019-2020. Nagaland has the highest disparity, with around 16 percent underweight children in 2018 to 2019, which increased to 26.9 percent between 2019 and 2020. Here are some more statistics in percentage regarding stunted children:

In terms of stunted children, Manipur is the leading State at 46.5 percent between 2019 and 2020, a 2.7 percent increase since 2018 and 2019. This is followed by Bihar at 42.9 percent, Dadar & Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu at 39.4 percent and Gujarat at 39 percent. Here are some more statistics in percentage regarding stunted children:

The Centre could not provide the latest data for states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Odisha. But data from 2018 to 2019 reveals the grim situation of children in these regions. Jharkhand seems to be in a bad condition with about 45.3 percent stunted children and 47.8 percent underweight children. Uttar Pradesh is not far behind with 46.3 percent stunted children and 39.5 percent underweight children. Rajasthan has 39.1 percent stunted children and 36.7 percent malnourished children.

Earlier, during the Budget Session of 2021, the same Minister of Women and Child Development had provided in her written answer that 21.9 percent children were stunted, 35.2 percent were underweight in the age group of 5 – 9 years and 24.1 percent children were underweight in the age group of 10-19 years between 2016 and 2018, as we has previously reported in SabrangIndia.

The answer may be read here:

Related:

No intention to bring in two child policy, fertility rates have declined: Centre in LS
Over 20 percent children stunted, 35 percent underweight between 2016-2018: Centre to RS
Over 1.4 crore children in Bihar don’t have access to digital devices: Centre in LS
Fund crunch to delay adding breakfast under Mid-Day Meal scheme

The post Indian children grossly underweight or stunted across Indian states appeared first on SabrangIndia.

At least 9,000 children tested Covid-positive in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra in May, 2021 although 95 percent of the cases were asymptomatic, reported The Tribune.

PTI reports estimated 9,928 cases out of a total of 86,182 cases were of children below 18 years, as per District Collector Rajendra Bhosale on June 1. Moreover, these cases account for about 11.5 percent of all cases reported last month.

While over 6,000 children were in the 11 to 18 years age group, around 3,000 were in the 1 to 10 years age group. A few children, yet to complete a year of life, also tested positive for Covid-19. However, regardless of the break-up Bhosale told news organisations that most children did not face danger as many were asymptomatic. Instead, he spoke of the report as a warning of a possible third wave of Covid-19 and asked parents to take care of their children.

Similarly, Ahmednagar’s paediatric task force member Dr Sachin Solat said that of the 350-370 patients admitted in the district’s civil hospital only five to six were children. In fact, 97 Covid-positive minors were reported on May 31 out of 1,000 new Covid-19 cases.

Nonetheless, a task force comprising 10 senior paediatricians has been formed in Ahmednagar to prepare against an oncoming third wave of the Coronavirus. A State Paediatric Task Force meeting is to take place on June 1 to discuss the Ahmednagar incident further. Meanwhile, Solat has called for a 100-bed facility equipped with oxygen and ICUs at the local hospital.

As of May 28, the district reported 2,58,195 positive cases and 3,086 Covid-deaths on its website. While there is no explanation for the spread of the virus among over 9,000 children, there is speculation that the minors are infected by Covid-positive adults around them. 

Earlier, SabrangIndia talked to Save The Children organisation that recommended temporary care and support safe spaces for children whose parents/guardians are hospitalised or quarantined to save them from the onslaught of the third wave.

Related:

GoI claims 577 Covid-orphans, but numbers may far exceed official data: Outreach workers
EXCLUSIVE: Hundreds die of Covid and data goes missing, UP gov’t remorseless
Covid-19: Karnataka unable to dispose of the dead, even as people struggle to survive
Is the right to health a forgotten constitutional mandate?

The post Shocking! Over 9,000 children test Covid-positive in May in Ahmednagar appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Recent government figure of 577 orphaned children may be grossly under-reported, especially after considering the number of semi-orphan children, non-government organisation Save The Children told SabrangIndia on May 27, 2021.

On May 25, the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development talked about committed efforts to support 577 children who lost their parents to Covid-19 between April 1 and May 25, 2021. Union Minister Smriti Irani tweeted this number while talking about children who had lost both their parents during the second wave of the health crisis.

GOI is committed to support and protect every vulnerable child due to loss of both parents to Covid-19. From 1st April 2021 till 2:00 PM today, the State Governments & UTs across the country have reported 577 children whose parents succumbed to Covid-19.

— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) May 25, 2021

Further, she also started a Twitter thread to remind people about their “legal responsibility” to protect such children from harm’s way, while listing a child helpline 1098. Irani warned people against falling into the trap of people who contact people for direct adoption of orphan children. Citizens are to inform the local Child Welfare Committee or Police or the Childline on coming across such illegal activity.

Telephonic aid during Covid-19 second wave

A brief call to the number managed by Childline India Foundation by Sabran India indicated that both, good Samaritans and orphaned children, receive a prompt response on the number and are put in contact with a response team that comes to the child’s aid. This team at times includes Save The Children outreach workers, who are spread across 12 states in India.

According to NGO-member Prabhat Kumar, neighbours or someone in the community calls the helpline more often than the children themselves. Moreover, the condition of each of these children differs. After their parent’s or guardian’s death, the child is generally sent to their relatives or child care institutions. However, even when children live with their kin, people are apprehensive of contracting Covid-19 that caused their parents’ death. This is why Kumar argued that district child welfare committees should be notified about semi-orphan children as well.

Who are semi-orphan?

Kumar defined semi-orphaned children as under-age children, who have lost one parent or guardian. As per state information collected by the NGO, the number of semi-orphan children during the second wave of coronavirus is much higher. Moreover, he said that these children are also more vulnerable to exploitation.

“Semi-orphaned children are vulnerable to child-labour and trafficking. This is because many times the person who has died is the breadwinner of the family. There is no one to support the family after the death of the guardian. Even the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) and the Juvenile Justice system recognises the need to protect them,” he said.

Data on orphaned children during Covid-19

In light of persistent news of underreported Covid-deaths, it is difficult to assess the exact number of children who were orphaned in India. However, Save The Children suspects 577 may not be an accurate number, especially considering recent data on the subject by Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan alone amounts to 402 orphans.

Referring to government data, Kumar said that Andhra Pradesh reported 135 orphans and 1,716 semi-orphans in the last two months. Madhya Pradesh reported 250 orphans and 1,200 semi-orphans between April and May. Meanwhile, Rajasthan said 17 orphans were registered between March and May 15.

“These amount to 402 orphans who have lost both parents in just three states. There are other states that report much higher official Covid-deaths. So, it can be assumed that the number is much higher,” he said.

According to a recent article by The Indian Express, 1,572 children were orphaned in Maharashtra of which 98 children lost both parents. Still, the irregularity in Covid deaths has made such data difficult to compile. Organisations that carry out cremations for abandoned bodies state that most people do not even notify authorities if a death takes place in their vicinity. Families also leave their loved ones in the street for fear of contracting the infection.

How are state governments protecting these children?

Kumar identified nine state governments and one union territory that started initiatives like free education and ration or scholarships for Covid-orphans.

Similarly, the Indian Express reported that Rs 10 lakh were allotted per district for the non-institutional care of orphans under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme. However, Kumar argued that this allotment should be increased in accordance with the number of children who have lost their guardian in each district.

“Within child protection system there is the ICPS provision to provide a sponsorship of Rs. 2,000 per month to vulnerable children, including semi-orphans. Health, education and safety needs should also be addressed with all this until the child reaches adulthood i.e., 21-24 years. Our organisation prefers the latter,” said Kumar.

Recently, hospitals were directed to mention whether they have any children in their registration forms to keep a track on minors in case of death. At such times of hospitalisation or isolation, local child welfare communities should also provide temporary care and support. Such a safe space is all the more pertinent, considering claims that the third wave of Covid-19 will affect children as well.

Community awareness about child-protection

Despite central and state provisions, many people are still not aware about the dos and don’ts of child protection, including the helpline number 1098. Nowadays, Save The Children focuses on reporting and verifying messages circulating on social media that talk about child adoptions. This aside from their work to provide around 100 orphaned children across India with food packages.

“We have tried to contact the people circulating these messages but most times the response is very suspect. People either don’t know where the child is or avoid questions. 90 percent of the time, these messages turn out to be fake,” he said.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development website flashes a notice every time a person accesses its website. Yet, people with little access to the internet are still not aware of due procedure.

Related:

EXCLUSIVE: Hundreds die of Covid and data goes missing, UP gov’t remorseless
Bihar’s odious and short-sighted response to Covid-19
Covid-19: Karnataka unable to dispose of the dead, even as people struggle to survive
Is the right to health a forgotten constitutional mandate?

The post GoI claims 577 Covid-orphans, but numbers may far exceed official data: Outreach workers appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Today, on March 18, in the Rajya Sabha, the Centre provided answers on the nutritional status of children referring to outdated statistics from 2016 to 2018.

The answer provided by Smriti Zubin Irani, the Minister of Women and Child Development, stated that as per the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS), “21.9% children are stunted and 35.2% are underweight in the age group of 5 – 9 years and 24.1% children are underweight in the age group of 10-19 years”, recorded between the year 2016 and 2018.

In light of the outbreak of Covid-19, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has said that it is not possible to provide hot cooked meals and so all States/Union Territories have been advised to provide Food Security Allowance (FSA) comprising of food grains, pulses, oil, etc., (equivalent to cooking cost) to all eligible children until such time their schools are closed.

Elaborating on the schemes to monitor malnutrition in school students, Ms. Irani informed the Rajya Sabha that under Anemia Mukt Bharat strategy, support is provided to the states and Union Territories (UT) for prevention and treatment of anemia in children (5-9 years) and adolescent girls and boys (10-19 years). But despite such schemes, the data provided by the Centre displays the alarming rate of malnourishment in children.

Her written response also said, “In order to address the challenges arising out of Covid-19 and closure of schools, the MoHFW has issued guidance notes to all the States and UTs regarding ‘Enabling Delivery of Essential Health Services during the Covid-19 Outbreak’ on April 14, 2020 and ‘Provision of Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health plus Nutrition services during and post Covid-19 pandemic’ on May 24, 2020 for continuation of service delivery amid Covid-19 pandemic.”

In related news, the ambitious plan to introduce breakfast as an extension of the Mid-Day Meal for students till grade VIII in government schools from the next academic session (2021-2022), has been reportedly delayed due to inadequate funds. A government spokesperson told the Indian Express, “We were hoping to begin the project from April. However, this is set to be delayed by several months now.” The Hindu reported that the School Education Department has seen a budget cut of almost Rs.5,000 crore in 2020-2021.

The answer may be read here: 

Related:

Fund crunch to delay adding breakfast under Mid-Day Meal scheme
No Mid-day meals disbursed in Goa during lockdown: Education Ministry

The post Over 20 percent children stunted, 35 percent underweight between 2016-2018: Centre to RS appeared first on SabrangIndia.

India is all set to usher in a ‘pandemic generation’ with 375 million children suffering Covid-19’s after-effects such as being under-weight, stunting, loss of education and work productivity, said the State of India’s Environment 2021 report published by the Down To Earth magazine in association with Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). This population includes children upto 14 years and over 50 percent of the 500 million children across the globe who had to leave school.

Following the report’s release on February 25, 2021, CSE Director General Sunita Narain said, “Covid-19 has made the world’s poor poorer. The pandemic is a shock response to our dystopian relationship with nature. It has amplified the inequity and deep divisions in our world.”

Narain said that places such as overcrowded settlements with no urban services like sanitation or water supply have become the most vulnerable to the disease. The report says that 115 million additional people globally may be pushed into extreme poverty by the pandemic, most likely from South Asia.

Specifically focusing on India, the report ranked the country at position 117 out of 192 nations in terms of sustainable development, placing it behind all South Asian nations except Pakistan. Within the country, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana were the best performing states working on ‘Sustainable Development Goals.’ On the other hand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh were listed as the worst performing states in this category.

During an online event for the report’s release Pondy Citizen’s Action Network’s (PondyCAN) President Probir Banerjee asked officials to include union territories in the report especially following recent actions in the region to assign one pond to each neighboring school and encourage students to conserve local biodiversity.

Attendees applauded this regional effort especially considering that the CSE report stated that the problem of drinking water has long eluded households of rural India.

“11 past deadlines have been missed. The Jal Jeevan Mission’s target to provide drinking water to all rural households by 2024 will need focus on making the water source sustainable; recharge of groundwater and rainwater harvesting will be critical,” said the report.

On a positive note, the report also stated that an average 34 percent of MGNREGA funds have been spent on water-related works, leading to creation of almost 11 million assets in half a million villages, since 2014-15. At the same time, river water quality did not improve significantly during the lockdown. Five out of 19 major rivers, including Ganga river, ran dirtier during the Covid-19 period.

Applauding the detailed report, Prayas Senior Advisor Narendra Gupta from Rajasthan said the next challenge is to discuss these issues to communities whose lives are widely different from the kind of environment experts aspire for.

“We need to think how to showcase [these problems] to people and [explain] how it affects them on a daily basis. Our government gives very little opportunity for the grassroot level to do anything. This became even more pronounced during the pandemic when the Centre took all unrestricted powers in their hand. We need to change the system of governance,” he said.

To Gupta’s point, the environment report stated that out of 88 major industrial clusters in India, 35 clusters show overall environmental degradation, 33 clusters indicate worsening air quality, 45 clusters have water that is more polluted and 17 clusters have worsened land pollution.

The most polluted cluster was Tarapur in Maharashtra, as per the Central Pollution Control Board data. Development and environment journalist Atul Deolgaonkar from Maharashtra said that the zero water months during both rabi and kharif seasons have worsened conditions of state farmers. Around three farmer suicides are reported every day per day in the Marathwada area suggesting “agriculture injurious to health.”

Building on this, Vettiver Collective member Nityanand Jayaraman said that this ecological catastrophe will continue unless politics and business is wedded to environmental sustainability. “Disha Ravi and others who speak for an environmentally sustainable future are brutalised. To save the environment we have to fight to keep hope for democracy,” he said.

Further, social-environmental researcher Leo Saldanha voiced his concern about commodification of natural resources particularly in the farming sector. “This is the message from farmers that they can’t take things lying down anymore. The report should also look at activists who are also suppressed while talking about these problems,” said Saldanha.

Similarly, Society for Social Uplift Through Rural Action (SUTRA) Founder Subhash Mendhapurkar warned that incidents like Chamoli can happen again. “Hydropower projects are consented without considering ecological cost. We should also consider the gender impact of this as women are reported to have migrated to other areas,” he said.

In fact, regarding biodiversity the report said over 11,000 forestland hectares were diverted in 22 states in 2019. Eight coal projects granted clearance in ‘No-Go’ areas will divert 19,614 ha of forestland, fell over 1 million trees, and evict over 10,000 families. Experts also refuted the claim that India’s forest cover grew by 5,188 sq km since 2017 because the Forest Survey of India mistook “trees for forests” including orchards, plantations and even trees along highways as parts of forest and tree cover.

Moreover, India added 714 more tigers in the last four years but stated that the area occupied by tigers shrunk by over 17,000 sq km. Similarly, India’s flora and fauna – 438 plant species (including food crops) and 889 vertebrates and invertebrates – is under threat.

In all 34,671 environmental crimes were registered in 2019, and 49,877 cases are pending trial. To clear the backlog in a year, courts need to dispose of 137 cases a day. As for air pollution, the CSE said it caused the death of 67 million Indians in 2019, with an economic cost of over US $36,000 million, equivalent to 1.36 percent of India’s GDP.

“India desperately needs a vehicle scrappage policy. By 2025, we will have over 20 million vehicles nearing the end of their lives. These will add to the pollution and environmental damage,” said the report.

Commenting on the report, Narain said that the answer to these problems in climate-risked times lies in differently done sewage treatment and mobility systems that will move people, not cars.

Related:

Uttarakhand lost over 50,000 hectares of forest land since 1991: MoEF data
Around 170 still missing in the tragedy in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli
India drops two ranks in the Human Development Index
Gujarat’s environmental group demands cancellation of GPCL’s environmental clearance

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