A hub for child trafficking? Only 50% of total children missing in Delhi return home safely

New Delhi: Reports of missing children are not so uncommon these days. And Delhi being the ‘crime capital’ tops here as well. As per government records, thousands of children were reported missing in the national capital every year. Among them barely 50% are recovered or returned safely to their homes.

Moreover, the national data on the child disappearances by “TrackChild” – a portal by Ministry of Women and Child Development – revealed that, in the past 12 months, 6,295 cases of missing children were reported while only 3,245 (may include missing children from past years) were recovered. More than three thousand children still remain untraced.

If we look at the data of Delhi itself, a concerning tally of 17 children went missing from the national capital every day in the past 12 months.

As on December 19, TrackChild shows that 401 children went missing in last one month while 27 in the last 24 hours. A detailed analysis of the yearly figures reveals that in every 3 hours, 2 children go missing in Delhi.

In Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, 1169, 2074 and 1578 children went missing respectively in the past 12 months. However, these numbers are way below the figures from the national capital.

Organised crime

Some of the reasons behind the cases of missing children could be kidnapping, abduction, trafficking, illegal adoption, and run away due to miscommunication with their parents.

Reena Banerjee – a social activist and founder of NGO, Nav Srishti Organisation – told DB Post that there are organised gangs behind the abduction of children from the capital. These gangs are employing the kidnapped children into various money- making modes, which depend on the age and sex of the child.

Infants below the age of two are most likely to be illegally adopted by desperate infertile married couples – to whom these kids are sold by traffickers.

While girls are dragged into sex trade after being injected with hormonal injections to induce early puberty.

Abducted children are also murdered for organ trafficking, tissues, or other body products, usually for transplantation. There is a global need or demand for healthy body parts for transplantation.

“Children abducted from Delhi were sent out of the city according to the demands while the children kidnapped from other states were taken to the capital”, Banerjee said.

According to her, the children residing in undeveloped areas and slums on the outskirts of the city are the easy targets of the kidnappers.

(Story by: Shaihzad Abid)

A case of 2 lakh ‘missing’ children Disparity in survey data submitted in SC

Discrepancies in two government-commissioned surveys, both a year apart, submitted in the Supreme Court show that over two lakh children, said to be residing in childcare homes, are “missing.”

A 2016-17 survey, commissioned by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, shows that 4.73 lakh children reside in care homes nationwide. However, the number of children in care homes came down to 2.61 lakh in the data submitted by the Centre before the Supreme Court in March 2018. The data were gathered by the Centre from the States.

‘Very disturbing’

The Bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur, S. Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta said they found the disparity “very, very disturbing,” and children were not just numbers. “It shows how serious the problem is. What is to be done? It makes us feel very sad that children are treated only as numbers. They too have soul, they too have heart,” Justice Lokur said, when amicus curiae Aparna Bhat pointed out the discrepancy.

“We do not know what happened to the balance two lakh children. Either the childcare homes had given an inflated number of children to get more funds or these children are missing,” Justice Lokur observed orally.

The amicus curiae said that of the 9,589 childcare institutions across the country, 1,596 were overcrowded and 97 districts were without childcare homes. She referred to how children were subjected to corporal punishment and other abuses in these homes. The court asked Ministry officials present how many children were missing in the country, “besides these two lakh.”

The Bench proposed to set up oversight committees at the national and State levels to monitor the functioning of childcare homes. Counsel for the Centre sought time to seek instructions on the suggestion.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/a-case-of-2-lakh-missing-children/article24753832.ece

Atrocities on kids rise in Assam

Guwahati: Assam has reported a three-fold increase in the number of cases relating to crimes against children between 2014 and 2016. Nearly 75 per cent of these were kidnapping cases.

According to the Crime in India 2016 report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released by Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday, the number of cases related to crime against children increased from 1,385 in 2014 to 2,385 in 2015 and 3,964 in 2016.

Tripura reported 369 cases, followed by Meghalaya (213), Mizoram (178), Manipur (137), Arunachal Pradesh (134) and Nagaland (25). The report said of the 3,964 cases reported in Assam last year, 2,970 were kidnapping cases followed by murders (35).

With the region prone to trafficking, 1,519 cases of abduction related to procurement of minor girls, followed by 676 cases in which minor girls were kidnapped and forced into marriage. The state reported 32 cases of trafficking and another 31 cases relating to kidnapping for prostitution.

Save the Children, an NGO, blamed poor implementation of the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS), slow progress of trial and poor enforcement of the laws. "If child protection committees are set up in each village, block and the district as stipulated by ICPS, crimes against children will come down. This will help us keep a database of children and keep watch on crimes against them too. Similarly, criminals like those involved in trafficking rackets are taking advantage of the improved communication like mobile networks to take their targets out easily," project coordinator of Save the Children in Assam, Deba Prasad Sarma, said.

He stressed the need for a state-level action plan to check crimes against children.

Chiranjeeb Kakoty, director of Northeast Society for Promotion of Youth and the Masses (NESPYM), another NGO here, however, said many cases of kidnapping could be cases of elopement. "As soon as a girl goes missing, parents immediately lodge a missing complaint in a police station and in most cases a kidnapping case is also registered. But during investigation, it has often been found that the girl had eloped. Kidnapping and trafficking are serious issues but a large chunk of such kidnappings are mutual elopement," he said.

The NCRB report also revealed 821 cases of sexual offence against children in Assam in 2016 of which 586 were rape cases. Mizoram reported 167 cases followed by Tripura (156), Meghalaya (151), Manipur (43) and Nagaland (27). The cases were registered under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012.

The number of cases of juveniles in conflict, however, came down to 436 in 2016 against 487 in 2014 and 624 in 2015. Meghalaya reported 84 cases involving juveniles. The figure was 57 in Arunachal Pradesh, followed by Mizoram (53), Tripura (25), Nagaland (18) and Manipur (10).

Source - The Telegraph

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Lest we forget: The missing children of India

More than 2,40,000 children went missing between 2012 and 2017.

In 2016, the Delhi High Court had raised concern over the issue of missing children in the country, equating it with the menace of terrorism. And if the government data is to be believed, the issue is indeed of grave importance.

Information from the Ministry of Women and Child Development show that more than 2,40,000 children went missing between 2012 and 2017. However, the number might be much higher in reality as many such cases often go unreported.

According to The New York Times, the police is also reluctant in fling first information report in such cases. The international media outlet claimed that FIRs were filed in only 40% of the cases between 2012 and 2014.

The report further mentioned that there could be many socio-economic factors behind the menace of missing children. One of the reasons cited is poverty. It says that families living in acute poverty at times fail to report the matter to police if the possible reason behind it is abuse of any manner.

Some families are so poor that they even resort to selling their children as they do not have the means of livelihood to sustain, said the report.

NYT further says that a bad monsoon can also be a factor leading to spike in missing children cases. According to the report, bad monsoon pushes families to starvation, and hence the children are set out to work. It is in this situation that the children often fall prey to trafficking situations.

A recent report by the US, millions of children and women in India are victims of sex trafficking.

DELHI - LITTLE TO CELEBRATE AS CITY YET TO ENSURE SAFETY OF KIDS

New Delhi

As the nation celebrates its 53rd Children's Day on Tuesday, child safety in national capital paints a worrisome picture. While 17 children are reported to be missing every day, three children are sexually violated in Delhi daily, as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data of 2015.

In the past five years (2012 to 2017 till October 31), 478 cases under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act have been registered and 40,404 children have gone missing.

Entire country was shocked when a Class II student of the Ryan International School in Gurugram was murdered on September 8, raising questions on the safety of children in their second home-school.

While the nation came to term with the horrid crime, within 24 hours, a five year-old girl was raped by her school peon in East Delhi's Gandhi Nagar.

Delhi Police officers claimed that ample measures have been taken to curb crimes against children in the city. There are trained officers who work round the clock to ensure safety and security of children.

Special Commissioner of Police Traffic and Chief spokesperson of the Delhi Police and Special CP (Traffic) Depender Pathak said, “Safety and security of children is of utmost importance for the Delhi Police. Steps have been taken to put a stop to the cases. Officers, who handle cases pertaining to minor children, have been instructed to be polite to the victims. Over the few years, cases have reduced.”

As per the 2015 data of the NCRB, 9,489 cases of crime against children were reported. This contributes as 10.1 to the cases across pan India. 56 lakh was the estimated population of children in the Union Territory. 169. 4 per cent of the cases were taken as cognizable offences.

There were 56 murder cases of children which included 54 victims. The rate of murder cases accounted to 60 per cent. Similarly, 927 rape cases of children were reported in the national Capital where in 928 children became victims. The rape cases accounted to 16.6, as per the NCRB data.

On the other hand, as per the data available with the Delhi Police, 73 cases pertaining to child sexual abuse were registered under the POCSO Act while 5,464 cases of missing children while four children were rescued under the Bonded Labour Act in Delhi.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police on Monday said that that to ensure that children become aware of cyber bullying and other cyber-related crimes, the computer teachers in schools have been made partners in spreading cyber safety awareness among schoolchildren by organising workshops on cyber safety awareness for the teachers.

“The Delhi Police aims to harness the school computer teachers and computer centres in communicating the importance of cyber safety and how the young, school going kids can protect themselves from cyber crimes. The teachers will also act as eyes and ears for police in recognising the new challenges that the young children are likely to face,” said Suvashish Choudhary, Additional CP (Economic Offences Wing).

The Delhi Police has concluded its fifth Workshop on Cyber safety Awareness for school computer teachers. These Workshops have been attended by more than 723 computer teachers from over 577 schools spread across Delhi.

Times Of India - Child rights week to be observed from Nov 14 to 20

Thiruvananthapuram: The social justice department, child rights commission and district child rights protection unit will jointly observe Child Rights Week from November 14 to 20. The week will be observed upholding the motto 'Society shapes children and child's protection is society's responsibility'.

The declaratory procession as part of the district level programmes in Vizhinjam will begin from PTM VHSS Maruthoorkonam, Kottukal on Monday at 11am. Kottukal was recently declared as a child friendly panchayat. The students of PTM VHSS will stage a drama focussing on liquor consumption, gender discrimination and drugs. Skits and study classes will be presented in various schools at Venganoor, Kottukal, Mukkola and Kottapuram.

Competitions will also be held in high school and higher secondary categories in essay, drawing, elocution and debate. The procession will be given reception on November 16 at St Mary's Higher Secondary School ground from 8.30am to 10.30am.

As part of the reception, the students of the social works department, National College will conduct a poster exhibition. Public convention, distribution of prizes and street quiz will also be held as part of the reception. Students of MSW department, Loyola College will present various cultural programmes. M Vincent MLA will inaugurate the public convention being organized in connection with art procession reception. ADGP B Sandhya will be present on the occasion.

19,000 missing children were rescued through ‘Operation Muskaan and Smile’

The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the National Conference on Anti Human Trafficking tomorrow. The daylong conference is being organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs along with key stakeholders like State nodal officers for anti-human trafficking, officers of Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) set up in various districts, other stakeholder Ministries/Departments, NGOs and experts in the field of Anti Human Trafficking. The participants will discuss issues and challenges relating to Anti Human Trafficking and ways and means to curb the menace more effectively.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had advised all States/UTs to launch a sustained campaign titled ‘Operation Smile’ throughout the country for a month in January, 2015 to rescue the missing children and reunite them with their families. Encouraged by the response of this campaign, MHA rolled out another dedicated campaign titled ‘Operation Muskaan’ throughout the country in the month of July, 2015. A total of over 19,000 missing children were rescued during these two Operations.

The top performers of Operation Smile will be awarded during the Conference by the Union Home Minister.

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Goa Human Rights Commission issues guidelines on tracing missing persons:

Panaji:Taking the issue of women and child trafficking seriously, the Goa Human Rights Commission (GHRC) has recently issued guidelines on tracing missing persons and asked the state government to set up anti-human trafficking unit (AHTU) exclusively to deal with human trafficking cases.

The AHTU, recommended to set up under the police department, is aimed at building capacities of law enforcement officers on tackling human trafficking. The advisory issued by the commission specifically calls on state government to setup AHTU in ensuring swift search and tracking in all cases of children reported missing, as an essential measure for the rescue of such children.

 Commission has directed the state government to implement the guidelines and asked to file their action taken report on October 26.

The three-member bench headed by Justice (retd) P K Mishra issued the guidelines to the chief secretary and Director General of Police while hearing the matter on a suo motu cognisance taken by the commission as well as on a complaint filed by Delhi-based NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan highlighting the lack of efforts on part of police and government authorities to curb child trafficking in the state, who are bought from across the nation and forced into sex trade.

Giving an advisory on preventing and combating human trafficking, the three-member commission, in its guidelines, has stated that “upon receiving any complaint of  offence against women or child then the police shall register FIR and investigate the matter in right perspective and in the case of missing report is filed in respect of women or child, then local police should conduct preliminary investigation by conducting inquiry into the whereabouts from the ‘extended family of relatives, neighbours’.”

“And if they could not be traced within four weeks then they have to register the FIR and conduct investigation and even after that the local police cannot trace a missing child in four months of registering of FIR then the matter may be forwarded to the anti human trafficking unit for intensive investigation,” it says.

This unit will be responsible for collecting, collating and analysing data on kidnapping and abduction of people in the state. The unit will also investigate cases of use of children and women for the purpose of exploitation, such as beggary and prostitution, a GHRC official said.

The human rights body further recommended the state government to designate police officer of not below the rank of DIG as nodal officer to exercise powers of investigation on handling cases of missing children.

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Operation Muskan: Mumbai police trace 247 missing children in July

As many as 247 minors were rescued from Mumbai by the city police as part of the drive carried out under ‘Operation Muskan’ in July.

The police said the highest number – 154 –were those who had fled their homes over petty reasons.

Following directions by the central government, the police began the drive as part of Operation Muskan to rescue juveniles found either in child labour, begging or abandoned on the streets.

The drive was carried out between July 1 and 31.

“As part of the drive, the Juvenile Aid and Protection Unit (JAPU) and the police stations traced 247 children. Of them, 61 were found begging and 32 were working as child labourers. These children were produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and they will be reunited with their parents,” said Pravinkumar Patil, deputy commissioner (enforcement).

The police have also started seeking a daily report from CWC officials in a bid to ascertain the actual figure of the underage children handed over to them.

“There are instances when common citizens find lost children on the streets and directly take them to the children’s home. A daily report from CWC officials will help us get clarity on their actual numbers,” Patil said.

In all, 416 underage beggars were rescued by the police in 2015 till August and as many as 198 were arrested for pushing them into begging, the police said.

In most cases, family members or guardians were accused of pushing children into begging. These people live on the earnings of the juveniles.

As prosecuting those accused under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act was not acting as a deterrent, the police have now begun filing cases under the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act and the Indian Penal Code.

Source: http://goo.gl/d58kQL

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3,889 kids went missing in Delhi from January 1 and June 30 this year:

• Delhi Police have launched project 'SNEH' to tackle the problem of missing children. Representational Image

An average of 21 children went missing daily in the first six months this year from the national capital, according to a government data. 

A total of 3,889 children including 1,715 boys and 2,174 girls went missing in theNCT of Delhi between January 1 and June 30 this year, of which over 1,500 children are yet to be traced by the police, Minister of State for Home Affairs Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary said in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. While 2,337 of the missing children were traced, 610 boys and 942 girls remained untraced, he said in reply to a question by Motilal Vora (Congress).

The minister, however, said that no data was maintained centrally about children missing from the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi outside the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, he said. Delhi Police have launched project 'SNEH' to tackle the problem of missing children. Juvenile Welfare Officers at police stations work in close coordination with NGOs and undertake awareness campaigns under the scheme, he added. 

Source: Missing Children - Delhi

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Skeletons of four children, reported missing 2 years back, found in a village near Gurgaon

The Gurgaon Police recovered skeletons of four children, who were reported missing two years ago, in the Aravalli foothills on Wednesday evening.

The children - three girls and a boy, all below 10 - had gone missing from their school in Hariyheda village, nearly 18 km from Gurgaon and close to Bhondsi village, on May 16, 2013. Two of the children are siblings – brother and sister.

The children were allegedly killed and buried there by the maternal uncle of the brother and sister duo.

On Tuesday evening, Gurgaon police arrested the accused Devraj (23) who fled the village after committing the crime. During interrogation, Devraj confessed to police he killed his nephew and niece on May 16, 2013, along with two other children of the village, over a fight he had with his brother-in-law. Devraj and his brother-in-law work in the same brick kiln. He also revealed to the police where he buried the bodies.

According to the police, Devraj lured his niece and nephew for a picnic after school to the Aravalli Range near Hariyahera Village and stabbed them to death. He also killed two other girls of the village who accompanied the brother and sister duo.

“The accused was detained for questioning in 2013 after the incident but released later. Soon he was called for another round of investigation, by that time he fled the village. Recently, we received a tip that Devraj would be visiting his village with his wife. The couple had been hiding in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. We arrested him on Tuesday evening,’’ ACP (Crime) Rajesh Kumar Chechi.

“He stabbed to death all the children one by one by taking them behind the bushes and buried the bodies in the foothills. He fled the village later and had been running from one village to another,’’ the ACP added.

On Wednesday, when the accused was taken to the hillock area where he had killed and buried the missing children, he initially refuted the crime and confused the police about the whereabouts of the skeletons. He claimed to have forgotten the area, said the police official.

The police then called nearby villagers to dug the foothills and found the remains of the children after four hours of operation.

Later in the day, the accused was presented before the city court, which sent him to three days police remand.

The police informed that the skeletons would be sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Madhuban for DNA tests.

Source: Skeletons of four children.

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A year later, child safety seems to be a forgotten issue - Bengaluru (Bangalore), India

Managements have increased fees citing expenditure on CCTV cameras, installing GPS in school buses and other safety measures, but parents feel that safety measures are not up to the mark.

Schools prefer to wait for the child protection policy before “investing” in safety

Exactly a year ago, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) formulated guidelines to be implemented in schools following a spate of sexual assaults on children. However, the situation on the ground has not changed much, as most schools are yet to implement all the guidelines.

Significantly, the comprehensive child protection policy (CPP), which was formulated to collate guidelines issued by multiple departments, is yet to get the government’s nod. A high-level committee under the chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary V. Umesh was formed to look into child safety and the policy. The policy has been placed before the cabinet, but was sent back several times for corrections, sources said.

Managements have increased fees citing expenditure on CCTV cameras, installing GPS in school buses and other safety measures, but parents feel that safety measures are not up to the mark.

The managements’ defence is that there are multiple guidelines and they would rather wait for the CPP to be finalised before “investing” in safety.

D. Shashikumar, General Secretary of the Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, said, “The guidelines issued by the police are in the High Court. Besides this, guidelines have been issued by DPI and the Transport Department. However, multiple guidelines tend to be confusing. We would rather wait for the CPP to be finalised.”

In the tussle between managements and the government, parents feel that their child’s safety is forgotten. Parimala S., a parent, feels that most schools have not even done basic things such as setting up parent teacher associations, installation of CCTV cameras in the premises and hiring support staff to accompany children in buses.

The worst of the lot are government schools which have not even issued identity cards for parents, let alone installation of cameras, due to paucity of funds. “Some government schools, which have found donors, have implemented some guidelines but a majority have not initiated any measures,” a teacher from a government school said.

TANU KULKARNI - Source: thehindu.com

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Number of Missing Children in India

              As per the data provided by National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), on an average less than one lakh children went missing every year since 2011. The details of number of missing children and the number of cases in which the children have remained untraced for the period 2011-2014 and up to April, 2015 is as under:

Sl. No.	Year	Number of missing children	Number of untraced children
1.	2011	90654	34406
2.	2012	65038	26896
3.	2013	77721	41089
4.	2014	73549	31711
5.	2015 (up to April)	15988	6921

This information was given by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi in reply to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha today.

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Decline in Child Sex Ratio in Tribal population 

 As per the Census 2011, the Child Sex Ratio (0-6 years) among Scheduled tribes population has shown a decline from 972 females per 1000 males in 2001 to 957 females per 1000 males in 2011. 

To address the issue of declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR), in age group of 0-6 years, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) programme has been launched by Ministry of Women and Child Development. The Scheme is intended to improve Child Sex Ratio across the country with the focussed intervention & Multi-Sectoral Action in 100 gender critical districts including tribal areas. The total project cost of the programme for the 2 years and 6 months is Rs. 199.99 crore with 100% Central Assistance.

Ministry of Tribal Affairs through regional consultations and its meetings has advocated and supported growing and consumption of traditional minor millets, green leafy and traditional vegetable in kitchen garden, rearing backyard poultry, and fishery. In addition, the Ministry has advocated regular administering of Iron Folic Acid tablets and Vitamin A supplements to pregnant women right from their cycle. Documentation of tribal crops and food, tribal medicine and practices to improve health and nutrition issues has also been initiated.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi in reply to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha today.

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Status of recommended amendments in Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 

The National Commission for Women (NCW) had recommended certain amendments in Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. The major recommendations include:-

i) Amendment to definition of Dowry

ii) Provision for registration of lists of gifts received at the time of marriage.

iii) Provision for separate penalties for giving and taking of dowry.

iv) Penalties for non-maintenance of lists of gifts received at the time of the marriage.

v) Insertion of a new clause providing an opportunity to the woman to file a case at the place where the offence was committed or where she permanently/temporarily resides.

vi) Protection officers appointed under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 to carry out the duties of the Dowry Prohibition Officers.

In view of the recommendations of NCW, a proposal for amendment in Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 was mooted and draft Cabinet circulated on 14th February, 2013 to concerned Ministries/Department for comments. However, the Ministry has taken a considered view on the matter on 26th November, 2014 and decided to drop the amendment proposed in Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 in the present form after taking into account of the comments of the High Level Committee on the Status of Women and Ministry of Home Affairs on the matter received on 3rd November, 2014 and 18th November, 2014 respectively.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi in reply to a starred question in the Rajya Sabha today.

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Substance Abuse by street children 

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has not made any estimate about the number of street children in the country. However, a rapid assessment survey of street- involved children carried out by Don Bosco National Forum for the Young at Risk (YaR), New Delhi and Don Bosco Research Centre, Mumbai has come to the notice of the Government of India. As per the aforesaid survey, the number of street- involved children in New Delhi is 69,976.

The Government is taking several measures to prevent substance abuse by children including services for rehabilitation of addicts.

Government of India is implementing the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 which prohibits selling of tobacco products to person below the age of 18 years and in places within 100 metre radius from the outer boundary of an institution of education, which includes school colleges and institutions of higher learning established or recognized by an appropriate authority. Also the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act, 1985 lays down that a controlled substance shall be sold after the buyer establishes his identity and upon a declaration made about the purpose for which the controlled substance is being purchased.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, namely, Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) from 2009-10 for children in difficult circumstances including children who are victims of substance abuse. Under ICPS, financial assistance is provided to State Governments/UT Administrations, inter-alia, for setting up and maintenance of various types of Homes, including, Shelter Homes, Open shelters etc. These Homes provide inter-alia, shelter, food, education, medical attention, vocational training, counseling, etc. to such children so that they can ultimately reintegrate into the mainstream society.

The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment is implementing “Central Sector Scheme of Assistance for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drug) Abuse” which provides financial assistance to eligible Non-Governmental Organizations, Panchayati Raj Institutions, Urban Local Bodies etc. for running Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts (IRCAs) to provide composite/integrated services for the rehabilitation of addicts which is inclusive for all sections of the society.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi in reply to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha today. 

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Malnutrition among children under five years of age 

As per the last National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-3 (2005-06) carried out by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India, 42.5% of the children under 5 years of age are underweight. However, the provisional India Fact Sheet of the Rapid Survey on Children (RSoC) commissioned by Ministry of Women and Child Development with assistance from UNICEF India has been released. As per these figures, there is a reduction in underweight among children under 5 years of age from 42.5% in NFHS-3 to 29.4% as per RSoC.

As per NFHS-3, the latest nationally representative data, the prevalence of underweight in children under 5 years of age in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan is 37%, 42.4%, 55.9% and 39.9% respectively.

The Government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition and is implementing several schemes/programmes of different Ministries/Departments through State Governments/UT Administrations. This Ministry is implementing Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG) namely SABLA, and Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojna (IGMSY) as direct targeted interventions.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi in reply to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha today. 

Source: http://goo.gl/Sqqy0j

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