2007 in retrospect - But the children cannot wait

“We are guilty of many errors and many faults, but our worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the fountain of life. Many of the things we need can wait, the child cannot,” said to Gabriela Mistral, Nobel Prize winner.

India’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru set a great example by expressing his love for children. So much so that he was called ‘Chaacha Nehru’ and his birthday is still celebrated as Children’s Day.

But as each New Year and yet another Children’s Day comes along, the celebrations ring hollow in the face of the growing atrocities that are committed against children. Some of our happy memories are that of being a child. But, being a child in India may not be such a great thing after all. The figures below speak for themselves.

If you are child below the age of three there is a 50 % change that you are malnourished – if you are not one of the 10 % who do not live to see their first birthday.

If you survive this age, and somehow get into school there is a 30 % chance that you will drop out of school – the probability is even higher if you are a girl. And you have to do all of this on your own, without support from the state, as it has no constitutional obligation to educate you till you are six years old.

Wait. There is more.

There is a 41% chance that you will be sexually abused or molested, most probably by a close family member or friend. Again, the chances are higher if you are a girl.

While recent figures show that around 70,000 children in India are HIV positive, a seemingly low number – uncounted are the number of children whose parents are infected or dead from AIDS making them vulnerable to child labour, trafficking and abuse.

While we know to the minute how high or low the sensex rises and the reasons behind the same, we are still arguing on how many child labourers there are in our blessed country. Estimates range from 10 – 100 million children – and recent reports about widespread child labour in the cotton and garment industries seem to favour the higher figure.

And in a country where every day there is a natural disaster, the impact it has on children is unknown.

The horror that is Nithari should have brought us to our feet in anger. But all we have left is despair at the speed with which enquiries move in India as the main perpetrator (or the politically correct “accused”) is languishing in a ‘first-class’ cell.

What is wrong with us?

Just a case in point – child related issues were allocated only a measly 1.2% of the total budget from 1990 – 98 on average according to a HAQ: Centre for Child Rights report. India ratified the UN convention on the rights of the child in 1990 and still we do not have comprehensive legislation that makes the convention a reality for children.

The image that comes to mind is that of an Ostrich with its head stuck firmly in the ground as the world around it crumbles. And maybe if we keep our head down long enough, the children will get tired of waiting and create a revolution. For that is what we need.

Photo courtesy: Anish Premson@World Vision