Fight for the Nourishment in Under-Privileged Children

Malnutrition in India Children – A Matter of Concern

UNICEF reports say, the story of India is one of growth, gains and gaps. With an economy that is going from strength to strength, benefiting from the demographic dividend of a young and growing workforce, this largest democracy of the world is also home to the largest number of children in the world. With this growth come real gains for India’s children and women. Increased government allocations to social sector programmes in line with its commitment to inclusive growth, a progressive policy environment and slew of social protection schemes, and the strength of decentralised planning and governance through the Panchayati Raj system - all contributing to improving the lives of India’s children and women.

But with nearly half a billion children in this country, a lot more remains to be done to ensure the survival, growth and development of India’s greatest asset: its children.

Globally, more than one third of under-five deaths are attributable to under- nutrition.  About 20 per cent of children under-age five in India are wasted, 43 per cent underweight and 48 per cent stunted. In terms of numbers about 54 million children under five years in India are underweight which constitutes about 37 percent of the total underweight children in the world.

In India, 25 million children under five years are wasted and 61 million are stunted, which constitutes 31 per cent and 28 per cent of wasted and stunted children respectively in the world.

It is also now being recognized that the greatest vulnerability to nutritional deficiencies is during the period of the mothers’ pregnancy and continues until age two.

The report further says, there is a growing emphasis on the problem of stunting (measured by height for age) and anemia in the first two years of life as they not only impact child survival and growth, but also result in diminished cognitive development, school performance and physical development. This also has an adverse inter-generational impact in terms of productivity, poverty, and for women, higher risk of pregnancy-related complications and low birth-weight babies which in turn, reinforces the vicious cycle of under-nutrition.

The problem is so alarming.

We need to find our own ways to fight this problem - as a corporate, as an individual or as government. The contributions are not always counted in financial terms, helping a child's nutrition, its education, it health by taking individual interest and by sensitizing people also equally counts.

It is time we look for the future India….. It is time we get down to bring change..

"Khushi" - Partner in Creating Happiness

Fight for the Right of a Child

From the very beginning I hated children working in a tea-stall or hotel.  I was doing my Engineering from Bangalore and me and my few friends had no option but to stay out as the hostel accommodation was not available. So, we also had no option but to eat out as cooking was not possible and neither allowed by the land-lord.

So true, I am yet to meet a boy in college who has enough money to spend. Money was always an issue and what ever you do, one never has excess of it.

We were 3 friends, 2 were from Engineering background and one was doing MBA.

On routine, we use to have our breakfast, lunch and dinner at almost same hotel, which was on the MG Road.  Some thing that always disturbed me was getting served by a boy of 12-14 years. I always felt very uncomfortable. May be coz my brother is of the same age. My friends too felt the same and we generally discussed.

Our tempers were tested when one day this child slipped and the entire ‘masala dosa’ fell on a customer's shirt and trouser. The owner of the hotel started beating this child. All three of us got up and stopped the owner and separated the child.  By now he was bleeding.  A heated argument happened and we decided not to eat in any hotel which had child labour employed.

Initially, we had to travel and search for a place, but it was not difficult. We were right and we found that slowly our other engineers and management friends followed and stopped eating at joints where child labour was employed. It is just a matter of taking a decision.

We three completed our education but till we were in Bangalore, we just stuck to our decision.  We were happy to fight for the Right of the Child.  No Child Labour means No Child Labour.

I am “Khush” and I am sure my friends must be also “Khush”.  This “Khushi” stays within me always.

Many times you do good work but it is difficult to find a place for expressing that "Khushi". This initiative has given me that platform..

Sanjiv Kaul, New Delhi