Bihar’s success story is incomplete

Bihar has been in the news recently for recording an average growth rate of 11.3 per cent for the period between 2004 and 2009. Much has been written about the quality of governance and the improved state of roads. This is indeed commendable, and no mean achievement, for a State that had virtually become a “development outcast”. Bihar the great improvement made in providing more schools and notably, a huge effort to tackle the complex issue of child labour.

The script for Bihar’s success story is incomplete, however. The State has the dubious distinction of having one of the highest rates of child mortality in India. Out of every 1,000 children born in Bihar, 85 will not live to see their fifth birthday (according to the third National Family Health Survey). The deaths of a third of these children are associated with malnutrition. In fact, the Citizen’s Alliance against Malnutrition states that over 58 per cent of children in Bihar are malnourished. And the State, despite spending crores of rupees on improving the state of the roads, has failed to utilise the funds allotted to it under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) which is mandated with tackling under-nutrition among children under six years of age.

The anomaly between impressive economic growth and the appalling rates of child mortality and underweight children is not peculiar to Bihar. The country as a whole has recorded an impressive economic growth (real GDP per capita grew by 3.95 per cent per year between 1980 and 2005). Yet, the percentage of underweight children under 3 went down by just six per cent from 52 per cent in 1992-93 to 46 per cent in 2005-06. Evidence suggests that for every 3-4 per cent increase in per capita income, underweight rate should decline by one per cent. This has not been the case in India.

At the present rate of progress, India will reach the Millennium Development Goal 1 target on eradicating extreme hunger only by 2043.

As we move to greater economic growth rates, the challenge we face is to make this growth more inclusive, ensuring that all of us, especially the most disadvantaged and marginalised groups benefit from this economic growth. Children especially must see the benefits of this growth now if we are to sustain economic growth in the future.

The reality in 2010 is that almost 50 per cent of India’s children are malnourished. In the nation’s capital alone, 42.2 per cent of children under five are stunted and a shocking 26.1 per cent are underweight.

Malnutrition stunts physical, mental and cognitive growth and makes children more susceptible to respiratory and diarrhoeal illnesses. Malnourished children are more likely to die as a result of common and easily preventable childhood diseases than those who are adequately nourished. According to a UNICEF report, 1.95 million children below the age of five die annually in India mainly from preventable causes that are directly or indirectly attributable to malnutrition. The children who survive the ravages of malnutrition are more vulnerable to infection, do not reach their full height potential and experience impaired cognitive development. This means they do less well in school, earn less as adults and contribute less to the economy.

While we have impressive policies and schemes such as the ICDS, these have not made a significant impact. The ICDS needs to reach the poorest and most excluded groups who need it the most, both in rural and urban areas. This is not the case however. Only 28.4 pc of children under six are able to access services provided by an anganwadi centre. Just in Delhi alone, for example, only 8.4 per cent of children under six have accessed an anganwadi centre.

India spends less than five per cent of the annual budget on children. The 2009-10 Union Budget earmarked 4.15 per cent on children! This, in a country where 447 million people are aged 18 and below! Of the total budgetary allocation on children, a mere 11.1 per cent is for child health schemes.

It is the poorest children in the poorest communities who experience much more malnutrition than their better-off counterparts. And yet, existing national nutrition plans barely tackle the socio-economic causes of the problem.

There is an assumption that economic growth will solve the problem of malnutrition but, in fact, economic growth often fails to reduce poverty. The economic causes of malnutrition are set to deepen: food prices remain high and are expected to stay high, the economic downturn is pushing millions more into poverty and climate change is causing an increasing number of extreme climatic events that devastate livelihoods and lead to destitution.

We have good policies and schemes in place. The time has come to implement these and more importantly, monitor their implementation. A task group on nutrition was set up by the Prime Minister’s Office in October 2008 but it appears that it has not yet met. We know which districts are hardest hit, we need to reach those districts and build the capacities of local health and nutrition workers to deliver effective services. We need to ensure greater convergence between the ministries that have responsibility for tackling malnutrition so that we have integrated plans at the district and panchayat levels to reach the communities that need it the most.

In the third century BC, Patna was the greatest city in India; the seat of the Maurya dynasty with Emperor Ashoka at the helm. Ashoka was arguably one of our greatest and most forward thinking leaders, who believed in inclusive development. If Bihar pays attention to social development ensuring that its economic growth benefits its most excluded groups and minorities, it may yet again lead the way for other States. link

Sold for Rs 500, he is now a wonder on stage

Gaja is nine years old. At the AHA! International Theatre Festival for Children, he wowed the audience with his bulti-jumping and drum stick tricks.

Little does anyone know he was sold for Rs 500 by his parents from Bihar to a factory owner in Bangalore four years ago. Now, the stage is his world.

Gaja and his friends belong to a troupe called Gondwana Band. They come from different streets of Bangalore and have worked as child labourers at homes or in factories. Having been rehabilitated by Bornfree Arts School, Jayanagar, these kids now learn dance, drama, music, sculpture, photography, film-making and architecture, apart from going to a regular school.

The children have performed at more than 1,000 venues by now. The programmes range from mimes to playing musical instruments. They have teachers who are popular artistes, like Yana Lewis, who coaches them regularly. The money from these arts sustain the 40 children.

The band is also a project of Bornfree Arts School. Children who somehow escape from their torturous life are rehabilitated. "It is usually spread by word of mouth. Children who are now with us tell others they know about the organization. They act as child liberators," said school founder John Devaraj.

When children come here, many are addicted to drugs or tobacco. The rigorous practice of these art forms kick their old habits away. The children are set into the mood by volunteers, who are artistes themselves. "They see us work and try to imitate us. That is the first step," John, an engineer, said. And then the taste develops. "Art is inherent in every human being. It is just a matter of triggering it," he said.

The organization was formed five years ago by John, when he realized the power of art in transforming people. "I do not want to run this as an NGO but want to make it a movement, whereby people realize that child labour is a crime," he said.

Many of them want to find their families and go back, but they know the task is not easy. "They sometimes get emotional when they see other children with parents. But they are tough. They have learnt how to live. Nothing can deter them now," John said.

The children had recently been to Pakistan on a cycle rally to spread the message of love and peace. They bicycled to Lahore from Bangalore and talked to their counterparts.link

18 child labourers from Bihar rescued from Delhi

Eighteen child labourers, who were rescued from New Delhi by the officers of Bihar Labour department with the help of Delhi police and and NGO were brought to Patna by a train.

Mukhatarul Haque, State convenor of Bacchpan Bachao Andolan, a Patna based NGO told reporters here that the child labourers reached Patna by Shramjeevi express who were received by deputy labour commissioner Ramchandra Choudhry.

Choudhry later sent the child labourers to their respective villages under escort.

Of the 18 released children, six each belonged to Darbhanga and Sitamarhi, two to Samastipur and one each to Motihari, Purnea, Katihar and Begusarai districts, Haque said adding that they were engaged in the bakery, shoe factory and zari making factories located in different parts of the national capital.

He said a fine of Rs 20,000 would be realised from the owners of these factories and the amount would be deposited in the account of state government's Child labour development fund. The fine money would be spent on the rehabilitation of the released child labourers, Haque said.link