Children are tomorrow’s future and India has set November 14 every year to be celebrated as a promotion for their welfare. But the magnitude of child malnutrition across the globe, particularly in India, is a stark reminder of what the world should have done for their wellbeing.
According to the World Health Organisation’s latest data, about 155 million children under 5 years of age are stunted; 52 million wasted; 17 million severely wasted; 41 million overweight and around 45 percent of deaths among children are linked to ‘undernutrition.’ The problem of undernourishment is seen mostly in underdeveloped and developing regions such as Africa and Asia. The Global Hunger Index 2018 data has ranked the hunger level of the subcontinent at 103 out of 119 countries, much below neighbouring countries China (ranked 25), Sri Lanka (67), Myanmar (68), Nepal (72) and Bangladesh (86), although three notes above Pakistan (106). A study undertaken by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India and Ernst & Young in 2017 had revealed that the infant mortality rate in the country had reduced over the years but was still home to 50 percent of the world’s undernourished children with 37 percent of children under five years of age underweight, 39 percent stunted, 21 percent wasted, and eight percent severely malnourished.
India may be one of the fastest growing economies in the world, a country many experts see as a superpower in a few decades. But when it comes to human development, the picture is grim and depressing. Statistics have clearly indicated that children are not benefitting from India’s rise in economy and growing presence in the world scenario. Besides malnutrition, issues such as crime against children and exploitation in the form of child labour continue unabated in the country. These factors point to the urgent need for taking punitive steps because the issues concerning them can take a big toll on the country’s progress in the future. The government should come up with programmes and policies for the wellbeing of our children instead of spending millions of rupees on building tall statues of imminent personalities or introducing bullet trains. If children can’t roam free without fear of being abducted, or can’t have access to quality education and enjoy childhood in this 21st century, there is nothing to celebrate on November 14.
