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Analysis

Criminalisation is not enough

By Debolina Dutta and Oishik Sircar

child sexual abuse

Criminalising consensual sexual behaviour between young people in the name of prosecuting child sexual abusers is a denial of young people’s right to safe and consensual sexual relations, write Debolina Dutta and Oishik Sircar in this analysis of the new Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act

India finally has a law to criminalise child sexual abuse (CSA) – the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (PCSO Act) – which was passed by the Lok Sabha on May 22, 2012. Just 10 days before this Aamir Khan’s TV show Satyameva Jayate’s second episode was themed on CSA.
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Features

Anatomy of child starvation deaths

By Kathyayini Chamaraj

starvation deaths The shocking facts about the maladministration that led to the recent deaths of severely malnourished children in Raichur and Mysore districts of Karnataka. Fifty per cent of Karnataka’s 0-6 age-group suffers from various stages of malnutrition, with many on the verge of death.

Two stories have been hogging the headlines in Karnataka over the last few weeks. One is the sensational and sordid story of illegal mining and looting of iron ore, the vulgar accumulation of wealth by the mining mafia and their use of this wealth to buy political power, keep a stranglehold on the government and hold democracy itself to ransom.

News Scan

Average infant mortality falls by 30% over a decade

The overall drop in infant mortality seems to suggest that welfare measures are working. But at 50 live births per 1,000, it’s still too high to meet the MDG target of 28

Recent data from the latest Sample Registration System (SRS) report released by the census office in New Delhi shows that the infant mortality rate in India has declined by 30% over the past 10 years.

The average infant mortality rate for the whole country was 50 per 1,000 live births in 2009.

Stories of Change

The Koel's Song

By Manjira Majumdar

Poverty and inaccessibility keep the adivasi children of six villages in Birbhum district, West Bengal, out of government schools. But they are getting an innovative and creative non-formal education at Suchana. A storybook written and illustrated by the children themselves has just been published

It’s a slim storybook for children, but what’s unique about it is that the stories in it are not written for children, but by children. Called Kokiler Banshir Sur in Bengali (roughly translated that would be Songs from the Koel’s Flute), the stories in this book are short and sweet.

Books & Reports

1,500 children saved in one district in two years

By Rashme Sehgal

Approximately 80% of maternal and infant deaths could be averted if pregnant women and newborns had access to basic healthcare services, says Unicef's State of the World's Children Report 2009. This has been proved in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh, where Unicef and the government have set up 24-hour transportation and care services.

In September 2007, UNICEF and the Madhya Pradesh government set up a call centre in the Guna district hospital to provide round-the-clock emergency transportation for pregnant women. Pregnant women in far-flung districts of the state, who had to travel in overcrowded public buses or by tractor to reach the nearest hospital, can now call on the Janani Express Yojana ambulance service to get there safely and quickly.

Changemakers

Shaheen Mistri: Helping children break the cycle of poverty

By Shaheen Mistri

Shaheen Mistri

Shaheen Mistri is building a bridge between poor children living in slums and a broad range of institutions that cater primarily to middle class Indian children. In the process, she is creating new opportunities for poor children and helping middle class institutions and corporate houses combat high levels of illiteracy among the urban poor

Most slum children do not get marketable skills at their schools. Government schools in India provide free education, but they are poorly equipped and have a high student-teacher ratio.

Backgrounders

Children : Background & Perspective

By Enakshi Ganguly Thukral, Bharti Ali, Saloni Mathur

India has 375 million children, more than any other country in the world. Their condition has improved in the last five decades, with child survival rates up, school dropout rates down, and several policy commitments made by the government at the national and international levels. Resource allocations by the State, however, remain quite inadequate to take care of the survival and healthcare needs of infants and children, their education, development and protection.