Welfare Policies.pdf

8/17/2019 Welfare Policies.pdf

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• Juvenile Justice System in India

• Transgender recognized as third gender

• NHRC: Issues in functioning and steps needed

• Human Trafficking in India

• Child Labour in India

• Issues related to Slums in India

• Female Infanticide and Feticide

• Issue of Maternal Mortality

• Issue of high Infant and Child Mortality in India

• Sanitation: Issues and Reforms

• ‘Housing for All by 2022’ Mission

• Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana

• Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

• Skill Development Mission

• Issues Related to Undertrials In India

C ntents

www.iasscore.in

URRENT AFFAIRS

Welfare Policies


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3/53

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tesJuvenile Justice System in India

What is the meaning of Juvenile?

Juvenile can be defined as a child who has not attained a certain age at whichhe, like an adult person under the law of the land, can be held liable for his

criminal acts.

Juvenile is used when reference is made to a young criminal offenders and

minor relates to legal capacity or majority.

Principles of Juvenile Justice System:

• The Juvenile Justice (JJ) system is based on principles of promoting,

protecting and safeguarding the rights of children.

• Imprisonment of child offenders is prohibited and recommended for

provision of reformatory schools and constitution of children’s courts with

procedures ‘as informal and elastic as possible’.

• Establishment of various kinds of institutions for the care of juveniles –

a juvenile home for the reception of neglected juveniles, a special home

for the reception of delinquent juveniles, an observation home for the

temporary reception of juveniles during the pendency of any inquiry

regarding them, and an after-care home for the purpose of taking care of

juveniles after they are discharged from a juvenile home or a special home.

• Involvement of voluntary agencies at various stages of the juvenile justice

process.

History of Juvenile Justice Acts in India:

1. Juvenile Justice Act 1986:

a) No imprisonment of juveniles in police lock-up or jail.

b) Two main authorities – a juvenile welfare board and a juvenile court – to

deal with neglected and delinquent juveniles.

c) Establishment of various kinds of institutions for the care of juveniles.

d) Guaranteed a wide range of dispositional alternatives with preference for

family or community-based placement.

Drawbacks:

a) Loopholes in terms of age determination, separate trials, court proceedings,

notification of charges to parents or guardians, filing of reports by probation

officers, reasons for and length of confinement, rehabilitation and after

care of juveniles.

b) The JJA promoted a sex discriminatory definition of a juvenile.

c) Devoid of the basic infrastructure consisting of juvenile welfare boards,

juvenile courts, observation homes, juvenile homes, special homes andafter care homes.

2. Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act 2000:

a) Endorsed the “justice” as well as the “rights” approach towards children.


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b) Divided juveniles as “juveniles in conflict with law” and “children in need

of care and protection”. This segregation aims to curb the bad influence

on the child who is in need of care and protection from the one who is

in conflict with law.

c) Proposed standardization in the definition of a ‘juvenile’ or a ‘child’ across

the country except for Jammu and Kashmir.

d) Juveniles in conflict with law are to be handled by the juvenile justice

board.

e) Children in need of care and protection to be dealt by child welfare

committee.

Drawbacks:

a) Does not provide for care, protection, development and rehabilitation of

neglected, delinquent children and includes within its ambit child labourers.

b) Delays in various processes under the Act, such as decisions by Child

Welfare Committees (CWCs) and Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs), leading

to high pendency of cases.

c) Increase in reported incidents of abuse of children in institutions.

d) Lack of clarity regarding roles, responsibilities, functions and accountability

of Child Welfare Committees and Juvenile Justice Boards.

3. Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) (Amendment) Act

2006:

a) According to this Juvenility would be reckoned from the date of

commission of offence who have not completed eighteenth year of age.

b) A juvenile in conflict with law is to be kept in a police lock-up or lodged

in a jail.

c) Chief Judicial Magistrate or the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate is to review

the pendency of cases of the Board at every six months.

d) Child protection units should be set up in states and districts to see to the

implementation of the Act.

Drawbacks:

a) Delay in inquiry of cases leading to children languishing in Homes for

years altogether on committing petty offences.

b) Inadequate facilities, quality of care and rehabilitation measures in Homes,

especially those that are not registered under the Act, resulting in problems

such as children repeating offences, abuse of children and runaway children.

c) Disruption of adoption and delays in adoption due to faulty and incomplete

processing and lack of timelines.

d) Limited participation of the child in the trial process, delays in rehabilitation

plan and social investigation report for every child.

e) Lack of child-friendly procedures by Juvenile Justice Boards and conduct

of Board sittings in Courts in many districts.


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f) Increase in heinous offences committed by children and lack of any specific

provisions to deal with such children.

Why changes required?

The NCRB statistics relating to violent crimes by juveniles against women

states that the number of rapes committed by juveniles has more than doubled

over the past decade from 399 rapes in 2001 to 858 rapes in 2010. “Crime in

India 2012” records that the total number of rapes committed by juveniles

more than doubled from 485 in 2002 to 1149 in 2011.

The brutal Delhi gangrape case has bought forth a new controversy related to

juvenile justice in India. One of the accused is a minor of 17 years.

Section 15(1)(g) of the JJ Act mandates that a juvenile convicted of any

offence can be sentenced to a special home for a period of three years,

maximum and thereafter be released on probation.Comparison of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 Act and proposed Bill

Provision

Treatment of Juveniles

Juvenile Justice Board

Child Welfare Com-

mittee

Appeals

Adoption

Foster care

After-care

The Juvenile Justice Act, 2000

All children under the age of 18

years treated equality. Maximum

penalty for juvenile in conflict with

law is three years.

Conducts inquiry and directs the

juvenile to be placed in any fit

institution for a period not exceeding

three years.

Disposing of cases for children in

need of care and protection;

frequency of meetings not specified.

Appeal to the session court within

30 days of JJB order, further appeal

to a high court.

No provision for inter-country

adoption in the act; the guidelinesgoverning the adoption of children,

2011 provide for inter-country

adoption.

Temporary placement of a child to

be given for adoption, with a family

for a short/extended period of time;

biological family may be allowed to

visit.

Monetary and continued support for

children after they leave special or children home for a period of three

years or till 21 years of age.

The Juvenile Justice Bill, 2014

Juveniles aged between 16-18 yearscommitting serious of heinous offencescould be tried as adults. However, therewill be no death penalty of lifeimprisonment.

Adds a preliminary inquiry, conducted in

certain cases by JJB to determine whether a child is placed in a home or sent tochildren’s Court to be tried as an adult.

Functions are same as the act; training of members to be done within two monthsof bill becoming law; committee to meetat least 20 days in a month.

Appeal JJB/CWC order within 30 daysto children’s court, further high court(district magistrate for foster care, etc).

Inter-country adoption allowed if adoptioncannot take place within the country,within 30 days of child being declaredlegally free for adoption.

Same as the act. Adds new provision for monthly checks on foster family by theCWC.

One-time financial support to children

leaving child care institutions after

completing 18 years of age.


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Issues related to amendments

• The provision of trying a juvenile committing a serious or heinous offence

as an adult based on date of apprehension could violate the Article 14

(right to equality) and Article 21 (requiring that laws and procedures arefair and reasonable).

• The provision also counters the spirit of Article 20(1) by according a

higher penalty for the same offence, if the person is apprehended after 21

years of age.

• The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child requires all signatory

countries to treat every child under the age of 18 years as equal.

• The provision of trying a juvenile as an adult contravenes the Convention.

Some penalties provided in the Bill are not in proportion to the gravity of the

offence. For example, the penalty for selling a child is lower than that for offering intoxicating or psychotropic substances to a child.

Transgender Recognized as Third Gender

Definition of transgender

Transgender people are individuals of any age or sex whose appearance, personal

characteristics, or behaviors differ from stereotypes about how men and women

are “supposed” to be.

Constitutional rights of transgender people

a) Right to equality under Article 14. b) Article 15 speaks about the prohibition of discrimination on the ground

of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.

c) Article 21 ensures right to privacy and personal dignity to all the citizens.

d) Article 23 prohibits trafficking in human beings as beggars and other

similar forms of forced labor and any contravention of these provisions

shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law.

Problems faced by transgender

• Transgender persons are deprived of the fundamental rights available to

the other two sexes, i.e. male and female, and are not considered as the

third sex.

• The transgender are deprived of social and cultural participation, are shunned

by family and society, have only restricted access to education, health

services and public spaces, restricted rights available to citizens such as

right to marry, right to contest elections, right to vote, employment and

livelihood opportunities and various human rights such as voting, obtaining

Passport, driving license, ration card, Identity Card etc.

• The main problems that are being faced by the transgender communityare of discrimination, unemployment, lack of educational facilities,homelessness, lack of medical facilities like HIV care and hygiene,depression, hormone pill abuse, tobacco and alcohol abuse, penectomyand problems related to marriage and adoption.

• Transgender have very limited employment opportunities.


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• Most families do not accept if their male child starts behaving in ways

that are considered feminine or inappropriate to the expected gender role.

Consequently, family members may threaten, scold or even assault their

son/sibling from behaving or dressing-up like a girl or woman.

The Supreme Court judgment on Transgender Rights

This judgment covers persons who want to identify with the third gender as

well as persons who want to transition from one identity to another, i.e. to

male to female or vice versa. The Court has directed Centre and State

Governments to grant legal recognition of gender identity whether it be male,

female or third gender.

• Legal Recognition for Third Gender.

• Legal Recognition for Persons transitioning within male/female binary.

• Centre and State Governments have been directed to take proper measures

to provide medical care to transgender people in the hospitals and also

provide them separate public toilets and other facilities.

• Centre and State Governments have been asked to provide the community

various social welfare schemes and to treat the community as socially and

economically backward classes.

• Centre and State Governments are asked to take steps to create public

awareness so that transgender people will feel that they are also part and

parcel of the social life and not be treated as untouchables; take measures

to regain their respect and place in society; and seriously address theproblems such as fear, shame, gender dysphoria, social pressure, depression,

suicidal tendencies and social stigma.

Steps needed for bringing attitudinal changes

Families: Awareness and information are needed for parents to support their

gender-nonconforming or transgender children, setting aside their discomfort

and deeply held normative attitudes. Such information could be made available

in health settings (pediatrics, child development specialties), as well as through

educational institutions.

Educational institutions: Awareness of gender diversity and the need tosafeguard transgender youth from hostile school environments is a dire need.

The recommended interventions include formation of groups of transgender

children for meetings, holding film screenings, setting up of resource centre,

augmenting libraries with books and audio-visual materials on transgender issues,

holding periodical sensitization events, and adopting policies for preventing

sexual harassment and bullying of transgender children.

Workplace: Anti-discrimination policies must be instituted and meaningfully

applied to the processes of hiring, retention, promotion, and employee benefits.

Workplace sexual harassment policies should be made transgender-inclusive.

Law enforcement agencies: The police at all levels should undergo sensitization

workshops by human rights groups/queer groups in order to break down their

social prejudices and to train them to accord hijras and kothis the same

courteous and humane treatment as they should towards the general public.


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NHRC: Issues in functioning and steps needed

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was established on October

12, 1993.

Composition

The NHRC consists of:

• A Chairperson;

• One Member who is, or has been, a Judge of the Supreme Court of India

• One Member who is, or has been, the Chief Justice of a High Court;

• Two Members to be appointed from among persons having knowledge of,

or practical experience in, matters relating to human rights;

• In addition, the Chairpersons of four National Commissions of (Minorities;

SC; ST and Women) serve as ex-officio members.

The Chairperson and the Members of the Commission are appointed by the

President of India, on the recommendations of a Committee consisting of:

• The Speaker of the House of the People;

• The Minister-in-Charge of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the

Government of India;

• The Leader of the Opposition in the House of the People;

• The Leader of the Opposition in the Council of States;

• The Deputy Chairman of the Council of States.

Functions

The Commission has a wide mandate including civil and political rights,economic, social and cultural rights, and group rights. Section 12 lays downthat the Commission shall perform all or any of the following functions, namely:

• Inquiring, suo motu, or on petitions, presented to it by victims, or anypersons on their behalf, or on a direction or order of any court, intocomplaints of violation of human rights or abetment thereof, or negligence

in the prevention of such violation, by a public servant.

• Intervening in any proceeding involving any allegation of violation of human rights pending before a Court, with the approval of such Courts.

• Visiting, notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, any jail or other institution under the control of the StateGovernment, where persons are detained or lodged for purposes of treatment, reformation or protection, for the study of the living conditionsof the inmates thereof and making recommendations.

• Reviewing the safeguards provided by, or under, the Constitution, or any

law for the time being in force, for the protection of human rights, andrecommending measures for their effective implementation.

• Reviewing the factors, including acts of terrorism, that inhibits theenjoyment of human rights, and recommending appropriate remedialmeasures.


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• Studying treaties and other international instruments on human rights, and

making recommendations for their effective implementation.

• Undertaking and promoting research in the field of human rights.

• Spreading human rights literacy amongst various sections of society, andpromoting awareness of the safeguards available for the protection of

these rights, through publications, the media, seminars and other available

means.

• Encouraging the efforts of non-governmental organisations, and institutions

working in the field of human rights.

• Undertaking such other functions as may be considered necessary for the

promotion of human rights.

Analysis of NHRC

A. Structural limitations

The structural limitations largely relate to the Protection of Human Rights

Act, 1993 and include:

a) Recommendations only: Commissions make recommendations to

government, which include: payment of compensation to the victim or to

her/his family; disciplinary proceedings against delinquent officials; the

registration of criminal cases against those responsible; instructions to

take particular action to protect human rights and/or to refrain from

actions that violate human rights. However, they can only make

recommendations, without the power to enforce decisions. This lack of authority to ensure compliance has unfortunate consequences:

I. Outright rejection of a recommendation: Governments often ignore the

recommendation completely or furnish a long bureaucratic discourse on

how compliance with the reommendation is not in the public interest.

II. Partial compliance: An example of this is a failure to release the full

amount of compensation. Another example is to take action on only one

recommendation when there were actually dual recommendations, such

as to pay compensation and take disciplinary action

III. Delayed compliance: While recommendations usually obligate governments

to take action within 4-6 weeks, compliance is rare within the stipulatedtime and sometimes action is so delayed that it becomes meaningless.

b) Limited Mandate: Secton 2 (d) of the Act defines “human rights” as

“rights relating to life, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by

the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable

by courts in India” Thus the law requires the NHRC to concentrate more

on civil and political than on social and economic rights. This is somewhat

unfortunate as a human rights commission can really play an effective

role in pressurising the government to provide social and economic justice

to citizens.

c) Composition Criteria: The Act requires that three of the five members

of a human rights commission must be former judges but does not specify

whether these judges should have a proven record of human rights activism

or expertise or qualifications in the area. Regarding the other two members,


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the Act is vague, saying simply: “persons having knowledge and experience

of human rights.” Commissions therefore sometimes become post-

retirement destinations for judges, police officers and bureaucrats with

political clout.

d) Time-bar: Under the Act, human rights commissions cannot investigate

an event if the complaint was made more than one year after the incident.

Therefore, a large number of genuine grievances go unaddressed.

e) Bar on violations by Armed Forces: State human rights commissions

cannot call for information from the national government, which means

that they are implicitly denied the power to investigate armed forces under

national control. Even the powers of the National Human Rights

Commission relating to violations of human rights by the armed forces

have been restricted to simply seeking a report from the Government,

(without being allowed to summons witnesses), and then issuingrecommendations.

Practical limitations

Structural limitations apart, the work of human rights commissions are also

being hampered by cultures that exist within governmental spheres. Some of

the practical difficulties faced by human rights commissions include:

a) Non-filling of vacancies: Most human rights commissions are functioning

with less than the prescribed five members. This limits the capacity of

commissions to deal promptly with complaints, especially as all are facing

successive increases in the number of complaints.

b) Manpower dependency: The Commission is supposed to be completely

independent in its functioning, even though the Act does not say so. In

fact, there are provisions in the Act which underscore the dependence of

the Commission on the Government. As already stated, Section 11 of the

Act makes it dependent on the government for its manpower requirements.

c) Non-availability of funds: Scarcity of resources - or rather, resources not

being used for human rights related functions - is another big problem.

Large chunks of the budget of commissions go in office expenses and in

maintaining their members, leaving disproportionately small amounts for

other crucial areas such as research and rights awareness programmes.

d) Too many complaints: A common problem faced by most human rights

commissions is that they are deluged with complaints. In the year 2000-

2001, the National Human Rights Commission received over 70,000

complaints. State human rights commissions too, are finding it difficult to

address the increasing number of complaints.

e) Bureaucratic style of functioning: As human rights commissions primarily

draw their staff from government departments - either on deputation or

reemployment after retirement - the internal atmosphere is usually just

like any other government office. Strict hierarchies are maintained, whichoften makes it difficult for complainants to obtain documents or information

about the status of their case. The presence of security guards, armies of

peons and office attendants creates barriers for ordinary people to personally

meet officials in regard to their complaint.


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Recommendations for improvement

If human rights commissions are to truly protect and promote human rights

in India, changes must be made to enable them to become more effective

institutions. Some suggested proposals are:

a) The effectiveness of human rights commissions will be greatly enhanced

if their decisions are immediately made enforceable by the government.

This will assist in preventing the many instances where the departmental

version of events is more often than not a white-wash, particularly in

those cases where the police has been accused of violations.

b) A large number of human rights violations occur in areas where there is

insurgency and internal conflict. Not allowing commissions to independently

investigate complaints against the military and security forces only

compounds the problems and furthers cultures of impunity. It is essential

that commissions are able to summons witnesses and documents, rather

than the present situation where the National Commission is restricted to

seeking reports from the national government.

c) If commissions are to play a meaningful role in society, they must include

civil society human rights activists as members. Many activists have the

knowledge and on-the-ground experience of contemporary trends in the

human rights movement to be an asset to the Commission.

d) Human rights commissions need to develop an independent cadre of staff

with appropriate experience. The present arrangement of having to rely on

those on deputation from different government departments is not

satisfactory as experience has shown that most have little knowledge and

understanding of human rights issues.

e) Complaints regarding police excesses and misbehaviour take up most of

the time of human rights commissions. It is perhaps time to think about

an alternative agency, dedicated solely to civilian oversight of the police.

Human Trafficking in India

Definition of trafficking

UN defines trafficking as: the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring

or receipt of persons by means of the threat or use of force or other forms

of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of giving or receiving of payments or benefitsto achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for thepurpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the

exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation,

forced labour or service, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or theremoval of organs.

Human Trafficking is a violation of human rights in the worst form, theimpacts of which are far-reaching. 95% of trafficking victims experience physicaland sexual violence. Many victims experience post-traumatic stress disorders,anxiety, depression and disorientation.

Facts

• Human trafficking is labeled as the third most lucrative illicit trade, after drugs and arms.


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• Slavery, prevalent in almost all countries of the world, amounts to U.S.$32

billion according to official sources and a definitive U.S.$150 billion

according to non-governmental sources.

• As per official estimates, 15 children go missing every hour in India and

8 are never found.

• As per the data from Home Ministry, 1379 cases of human trafficking

were reported from Karnataka in the period of four years, in Tamil Nadu

the number is 2,244 whereas Andhra Pradesh has 2,157 cases of human

trafficking.

• Delhi is the hotspot for illegal trade of young girls for domestic labour,

forced marriage and prostitution.

Root causes of trafficking

Trafficking in humans is done, primarily, to fulfil the purposes of forced labour, bonded labour, sex work and organs trafficking.

Causes are:

• Poverty

• Existence of gender-based violence

• Political instability

• Social and cultural exclusion

• Unemployment among youths

• Globalisation of the world economy

• Rural-Urban migration

• Poor governance and scarce government protection to vulnerable

Steps taken by government and flaws in it

Steps taken:

• The Constitution of the country has prohibited all sorts of traffickingunder Article 23.

• Trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation is covered under several other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), namely, 366A(Procuration of Minor Girls Under 18 Years of Age), 366B (Importationof Girls Under 21 Years of Age From a Foreign Country), 367 (Kidnappingand Abduction for Slavery, Unnatural Lust, etc.), 372 (Selling of Minor Girls for Prostitutions), 373 (Buying of Minor Girls for Prostitutions).There are some other offences under IPC that have direct bearing on theproblem of trafficking. Thus, for instance, trafficked women/girls veryoften are raped (an offence under section 376) before being sold to the

brothel. Also sexual intercourse with a girl child under 16 years of age,even with her consent, constitutes the offence of a rape under section 374

of IPC.• Special legislations like The Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, Bonded

Labour Abolition Act 1976, Child Labour Act 1986, Juvenile JusticeAct 2000, Offences Against Children Act 2005 and local legislations likeGoa Children’s Act 2003 also attempt to prevent human trafficking.


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• The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA) was amended in 1978 and

later in 1986, was in response to the ratification of the International

Convention on Suppression of Immoral Traffic and Exploitation of

Prostitution of Others in 1950. The ITPA toughened penalties

for trafficking in children, particularly by focusing on traffic-kers, pimps, landlords, and brothel operators, while protecting underage girls

as victims. The ITPA also provides protection and rehabilitation for the

rescued girls. Keeping a brothel or allowing premises to be used as a

brothel is a crime under the ITPA. It also provides punishment to

(a) Adults living on the earnings of prostitutes,

(b) Procuring a person for the sake of prostitution, and

(c) Detaining a person in premises where prostitution is carried on.

But, prostitution is not an offence under the ITPA.

• Under the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act Section 370A has been added

to the Indian Penal Code which criminalizes human trafficking. The

definition provided under the new section is not restricted to prostitution

but also includes other forms of trafficking.

• Government has launched UJJAWALA scheme to prevent trafficking of

women and children for commercial sexual exploitation through social

mobilization and involvement of local communities, awareness generation

programmes, generate public discourse through workshops/seminars and

such events and any other innovative activity; to facilitate rescue of

victims from the place of their exploitation and place them in safe custody

and to provide rehabilitation services both immediate and long-term tothe victims by providing basic amenities/needs such as shelter, food,

clothing, medical treatment including counselling, legal aid and guidance

and vocational training.

Issues:

• It provides a measly amount of Rs.20,000 ($320) as compensation to

victim. Such amount is not enough to rehabilitate the victim or to provide

such a person with alternate means of livelihood. There is a grave danger

of the rescued persons falling back into the traps of the traffickers.

• The punishment provided to the trafficker under Section 3 of the Act isonly three years. Such punishment does not act as a deterrent to offenders.

• Further the process of rehabilitation mainly involves sending women to

government-run homes for protective custody until their cases are heard

or they are sent back to their original homes. These government run

homes have been criticized for a host of short comings corruption, poor

infrastructure facilities, meager budgets, inadequate provisions for

psychological care, ineffective skill building. Most women end up doing

nothing for long periods, while those who do not wish to be rescued view

the home as a prison. They are confined to the vicinity of the homes.

• The lack of appropriate facilities has meant that the rescued girls areforced to stay in nari niketans, which is illegal.

• Social stigma and non-acceptability are said to the greatest obstacles toreintegration. Besides the difficulties in finding alternative employment

because of the stigma, any livelihood option which pays less than Rs.


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2,000 to 3,000 a month is not viable and the rescued girls often lapse back into commercial sex work.

Possible solutions

• Effective policy implementation.

• Sensitization and awareness programmes for law enforcing agencies.

• Frequent raids to track trafficked persons.

• Alert border security forces to prevent trafficking out of the country.

• Public awareness programmes to alert people and to help them identifyany such activity around them.

• Post-rescue rehabilitation programmes to ensure that victims are not forcedto revert to sex work due to lack of reasonable alternatives.

• Training programmes to make rescued persons economically independent.

• Provide for protective homes for homeless persons and orphaned childrenas they are most vulnerable.

• Separate institutions to be set up for minors, women and persons above18 years of age (major).

• Collective effort must be made by the Police and NGOs to locate addressesfor repatriation of the victims.

• Counseling should be given to the families of survivors, for sensitization,to facilitate easy acceptance of the repatriated survivors.

• Legal mechanisms should be clear and uncomplicated to guarantee promptrepatriation of survivors.

Child Labour in India

Definition of Child Labour

Child Labour, as defined by the International Labour Organization, refers towork that leads to the deprivation of one’s childhood and educationopportunities. It deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity and that is harmful to their physical and mental development.

Following are the incidences which can recognize as a Child Labour:

• Is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to

children; and

• Interferes with their schooling by:

I. Depriving them of the opportunity to attend school;

II. Obliging them to leave school prematurely; or

III. Requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with

excessively long and heavy work.

Some data related to Child Labour in India:

According to the Census 2001 figures there are 1.26 crore working children in

the age group of 5-14 as compared to the total child population of 25.2 crore.

There are approximately 12 lakhs children working in the hazardous


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occupations/processes which are covered under the Child Labour (Prohibition

& Regulation) Act i.e. 18 occupations and 65 processes. As per survey

conducted by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) in 2004-05, the

number of working children is estimated at 90.75 lakh. As per Census 2011,

the number of working children in the age group of 5-14 years has further reduced to 43.53 lakh. It shows that the efforts of the Government have borne

the desired fruits.

Examples of Child Labour:

The following are some of the situations in which children are engaged in

work:

• Agriculture - Children working long hours and under severe hardships on

the fields. They are also exposed to the hazards of working with modern

machinery and chemicals.

• Hazardous Industries/ Occupations - Like glass making, mining ,

construction , carpet weaving, zari making, fireworks and others as listed

under the Child Labour Act.

• Small industrial workshops and service establishments.

• On the streets- Rag pickers, porters, vendors, etc.

• Domestic work- Largely invisible and silent and hence face higher degree

of exploitation and abuse in the home of employees.

Constitutional Articles that prohibits Child Labour and proposes child development:

1. Article 14 (No child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work

in any factory or mine or engaged in any other danger employment.

2. Article 39-E ( The state shall direct its policy towards securing that the

health and strength of workers, men and women and the tender age of

children are not abused and that they are not forced by economic necessity

to enter vocations unsuited to there are and strength.

3. Article 39-F (Children shall be given opportunities and facilities to develop

in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that

childhood and youth shall be protected against moral and material

abandonment.

4. Article 45 (The state shall endeavor to provide within a period of ten

years from the commencement of the constitution for free and compulsory

education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years.

The main legislative measures at the national level are The Child Labour

Prohibition and Regulation Act – 1986 ant The Factories Act – 1948.

Causes of Child Labour in India

Over population, illiteracy, poverty, debt trap are some of the common causeswhich are instrumental in this issue.

Overburdened, debt-trapped parents fail to understand the importance of anormal childhood under the pressures of their own troubles and thus it leadsto the poor emotional and mental balance of a child’s brain which is notprepared to undertake rigorous field or domestic tasks.


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National and Multinational companies also recruit children in garment industriesfor more work and less pay which is absolutely unethical.

According to HAQ: Centre for child rights, child labour is highest amongschedules tribes, Muslims, schedule castes and OBC children. The persistenceof child labour is due to the inefficiency of the law, administrative system and

because it benefits employers who can reduce general wage levels.

Various growing concerns have pushed children out of school and intoemployment such as forced displacement due to development projects, SpecialEconomic Zones; loss of jobs of parents in a slowdown, farmers’ suicide;

armed conflict and high costs of health care. Girl children are often used indomestic labour within their own homes. There is a lack of political will toactually see to the complete ban of child labour.

The steps taken by government and issues

• According to the Child Labor Prohibition and Regulation Act, children of any age may be employed, provided employers adhere to restrictions,

including a maximum 6-hour workday with a 1-hour rest period, at least

1 day off per week, and no night or overtime work. The Child Labor

Prohibition and Regulation Act bars children under age 14 from 18

hazardous occupations and 65 hazardous processes, such as handling

pesticides, weaving carpets, breaking stones, working in mines, and domestic

service. The Factories Act bars children under age 14 from working in

factories. Employing children under age 14 in a hazardous occupation or

process can lead to fines and imprisonment.

• The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act prohibits

employers from exploiting juvenile employees under age 18, through

practices such as keeping them in bonded conditions or garnishing their

wages. Violators are generally not fined or imprisoned.

• The Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act provides for district-level

vigilance committees to investigate allegations of bonded labor and release

anyone found in bondage. The Act also provides for rehabilitation assistance

payments for released bonded laborers. Persons found using bonded labor

may be fined and face imprisonment.

• In April 2013, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act was passed, which

amended the Indian penal code to protect children and adults from being

trafficked into exploitative situations, including forced labor situations.

Penalties include fines and up to lifetime imprisonment. In 2012, the

Government passed the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act.

The law protects children from sexual assault, sexual harassment and

pornography and establishes Special Courts for trials of these crimes. The

amendment includes penalties for those who employ children or adults

who have been trafficked. Penalties include fines and up to lifetime

imprisonment.

• The Information Technology (Amendment) Act of 2008 includes penalties

of fines and imprisonment for any person who publishes, collects, seeks

or downloads child pornography in electronic form.

• The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act No. 61 makes it

illegal to cause any person, including children, to produce or deal in narcotic

or psychotropic substances; punishment consists of fines and imprisonment.


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• Education is free and compulsory to age 14. The Right of Children to

Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) lays out the country’s

commitment to provide universal access to primary education with a

focus on children from disadvantaged social groups. The RTE provides for

free and compulsory education to all children ages 6 to 14. The Actprohibits denying admission to children who lack a birth certificate, allows

children to transfer schools, requires local authorities to identify out-of-

school children, forbids discrimination against disadvantaged groups, and

prescribes quality education standards. In 2012, the RTE was amended to

include children with disabilities. Research has shown that disabled children

who face barriers to education may be at greater risk of working in

hazardous occupations.

• With regard to educational rehabilitation, the Government is implementing

National Child Labour Project Scheme (NCLP) in 266 child labour endemic

districts in 20 States.

However most of the legislation passed lacks teeth to the effect that nothing

can be effectively enforced or implemented. The machinery to tackle this

problem effectively at the grass root level is lacking. Hence nothing much has

been achieved. The lack of a national minimum age for employment increases

the likelihood that very young children may engage in activities that jeopardize

their health and safety.

Thus the Government must either compensate the family of the child or find

employment for an adult member of the family. State governments also have

the authority to pass legislation establishing a minimum age for work. In 2012,

the State of Rajasthan passed legislation establishing a legal minimum working

age of 18 years.

Amendments proposed in Child Labour Prevention Act

In a significant move to curb the rampant spread of child labour across the

country, the Government of India has proposed amendments in Child Labour

Prevention Act.

The amendments proposed are:

• The government of India has introduced Child Labour (Prohibition and

Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012 to amend the Child Labour (Prohibition

and Regulation) Act, 1986, which prohibits the engagement of children in

certain types of occupations and regulates the condition of work of children

in other occupations.

• The Act prohibits employment of children below 14 years in certain

occupations such as automobile workshops, bidi-making, carpet weaving,

handloom and power loom industry, mines and domestic work. In light

of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009,

the Bill seeks to prohibit employment of children below 14 years in all

occupations except where the child helps his family after school hours.

• The Bill adds a new category of persons called “adolescent”. An adolescentmeans a person between 14 and 18 years of age. The Bill prohibits

employment of adolescents in hazardous occupations as specified (mines,inflammable substance and hazardous processes).

• The central government may add or omit any hazardous occupation fromthe list included in the Bill.


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• The Bill enhances the punishment for employing any child in anoccupation. It also includes penalty for employing an adolescent in ahazardous occupation.

• The penalty for employing a child was increased to imprisonment between6 months and two years (from 3 months-one year) or a fine of Rs 20,000to Rs 50,000 (from Rs 10,000-20,000) or both.

• The penalty for employing an adolescent in hazardous occupation isimprisonment between 6 months and two years or a fine of Rs 20,000 toRs 50,000 or both.

• The government may confer powers on a District Magistrate to ensurethat the provisions of the law are properly carried out.

• The Bill empowers the government to make periodic inspection of placesat which employment of children and adolescents are prohibited.

Problems with the amendment

a) In India, it is extremely hard to empirically define what is “hazardous”and what is “non-hazardous”.

b) Amendment also allows children to work in “family business” which isequally ambiguous and open to misinterpretation.

c) This Amendment, in principle, goes against the Right of Children to Freeand Compulsory Education Act, 2009, which mandates the state to ensurefree and compulsory education to all children in the age group of 6 to 14years. If a child is allowed to legally work in a non-hazardous industry,

would he or she be able to meet all the demands of a school education?A condition set forth in this Amendment is that children should work only after school hours or during vacations. But meeting this condition iseasier in theory than in practice.

Possible Solutions

• Elimination of poverty, free and compulsory education, proper and strictimplementation of the labour laws, abolishment of child trafficking can goa long way in solving the problem of child labour.

• After the 86th Amendment of the Constitution in the year 2002, theprovision for free and compulsory education between the age group of 6

to 14 years has been included as fundamental right under Article 21A.Children irrespective of their race, caste, sex, economic condition, religion,place of birth, and parents to whom they born of need to how to read andwrite. They need social and professional skills that only a school andnurturing environment can provide.

• The NGOs also have a big role to play in this regard. Various NGOs areworking for the cause of child labour. MVF in Andhra Pradesh is a strikingexample. They have been working for the welfare of children in variousrespects.

• Compulsory education can help eradicating the problem of child labour

up to a large extent. Statistics also show that education has helped inreducing child labour in Western Countries up to a large extent.

• Organization of literacy and awareness programme to prevent children

from employment.


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• Amendment and Modification into Social Security Legislation governing

Child Labour.

• Control on Population growth to eliminate of Poverty which is basic

cause of Child Labour issues.

• Mandatory on industrialists for equal pay without discrimination as to

Age, Status, Religion etc.

• Adequate health services for children at large living in the society.

• Need to provide training and education to the child workers during their

free time.

Issues Related to Slums in India

Urbanization and economic development have a strong positive correlation

which is indicated by the fact that a country with a high per capita income is

also likely to have a high degree of urbanization. The economic advantages

provided by urban areas are many. Generally, the industrial, commercial and

service sectors tend to concentrate in and around urban areas. These areas

provide a larger concentration of material, labour, infrastructure and services

related inputs on the one hand and also the market in the form of consumers,

on the other. But the situation is different for India. The haphazard urbanization

in India is leading to growth of slums.

Definition of Slum

The Pranab Sen Committee has defined Slums as: ”A Slum is a compact

settlement of at least 20 households with a collection of poorly built tenements,

mostly of temporary nature, crowded together usually with inadequate sanitary

and drinking water facilities in unhygienic conditions”.

Slums data: NSSO Survey

Three types of slums have been defined in Census, namely, Notified, Recognized

and Identified.

(i) All notified areas in a town or city notified as ‘Slum’ by State, Union

territories Administration or Local Government under any Act including

a ‘Slum Act’ may be considered as Notified slums

(ii) All areas recognised as ‘Slum’ by State, Union territories Administrationor Local Government, Housing and Slum Boards, which may have not

been formally notified as slum under any act may be considered as

Recognized slums

(iii) A compact area of at least 300 population or about 60-70 households of

poorly built congested tenements, in unhygienic environment usually with

inadequate infrastructure and lacking in proper sanitary and drinking water

facilities. Such areas should be identified personally by the Charge Officer

and also inspected by an officer nominated by Directorate of Census

Operations. This fact must be duly recorded in the charge register. Such

areas may be considered as Identified slums

Some of the salient findings of the survey are as follows:

a) At all-India level 44% of slums – 48% of notified slums and 41% of non-

notified slums – were located on private land.


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b) In about 60% of all slums, the majority of houses had pucca structures.

The proportion of such slums was 85% among notified slums but only

42% of non-notified slums.

c) At the all-India level 71% of all slums had tap as major source of drinkingwater, the figure being 82% for notified slums but only 64% for non-

notified slums.

d) The phenomenon of absence of electricity in slums appeared to be largely

confined to non-notified slums. At all-India level only 6.5% of all slums

had no electricity – the corresponding figures being 11% for non-notified

slums but only 0.1% for notified slums.

e) In about 66% of all slums, the road within the slum used by the dwellers

as main thoroughfare was a pucca road. The proportion was 83% for

notified slums and 55% for non-notified slums.

f) At the all-India level 31% of slums had no latrine facility, the figure being

42% for non-notified and 16% for notified slums.

g) About 31% of all slums had no drainage facility – the figure being

considerably higher for non-notified slums (45%) than for notified slums

(11%).

h) At the all-India level, 27% of all slums had no garbage disposal arrangement

– the figures being about 38% for non-notified slums and about 11% for

notified slums.

i) In an estimated 32% of all slums, the approach road to the slum usuallyremained waterlogged due to rainfall. The figure was 35% for notified

slums and 29% for non-notified slums.

j) At the all-India level 24% of slums benefited from welfare schemes such

as Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), Rajiv

Awas Yojana (RAY), or any other scheme run by the Central Government

or State Government or any local body. The proportion benefiting from

such schemes was 32% among notified and 18% among non-notified slums.

Various reasons for creation of slums are listed as follows:

• Increased urbanization leading to pressure on the available land andinfrastructure, especially for the poor.

• Natural increase in the population of urban poor and migration from rural

areas and small towns to larger cities.

• Inappropriate system of urban planning which does not provide adequate

space for the urban poor in the City Master Plans.

• Sky-rocketing land prices due to increasing demand for land and constraints

on supply of land.

• Absence of programmes of affordable housing for the urban poor in most

States.

• Lack of availability of credit for low income housing.

• Increasing cost of construction.


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Problems faced by Slum Dwellers:

• The urban poor are vulnerable to disease brought on by unhygienic

conditions. In key indicators for child health, the urban poor children fall

well below the national urban average. Only 53 per cent of the urban poor children are covered by an Anganwadi Centre (AWC) and only 10.1 per

cent of women had regular contact with a health worker. All this translates

into poor nutritional status as well. Nearly 59 per cent of urban poor

women and 71.4 per cent of urban poor children suffered from anaemia.

Malnutrition, measured through underweight (47.1 per cent) and stunted

children (54.2 per cent), is significant among the urban poor. Out-of-

pocket expenditure for health also pushes individuals further into poverty.

• The urban poor are vulnerable to a lack of access to education services.

Consequently, the lack of education results in a lack of skill sets needed

to acquire employment in the formal sector.

• Lack of education and health among the urban poor is compounded by

a lack of access to finance, which is a pre-requisite for employment,

poverty reduction, and in the long-run sustained economic growth. However,

the formal financial sector serves only a minority, with most households

lacking even basic financial services.

• A key area where the urban poor are particularly vulnerable is the lack of

a legislative framework to empower the urban poor. This involves giving

legislative strength to policy initiatives such as inclusive urban planning,

financial empowerment of the poor, enabling livelihood options, and overall,

granting property rights to the urban poor. One area where the urban poor

are particularly vulnerable, due to legislative exclusion, is security of tenure

which is a prerequisite for access to formal financial institution access,

access to basic services and security from evictions.

• The sewerage system of the slum area is not sufficient in everywhere.

Most of the slum area has open drainage system. The drains are very

much dirty, unhygienic and undeletable which need renovations. The

sewerage system of this area is needed to improve.

• Peoples called “Slum” are a black spot and often an unwanted component

in urban civilization. This creates a social problem for slum dwellers. For

economical backdrop unsocial activities are generally conduct by the someslum peoples. The most vibrant problem is unsocial alcoholic business.

Also the other problems like Murder, Theft, and Extortion is organized

here.

Initiatives taken by Government and issues

Although Land, Colonization and Slums are State subjects, the Central

government has brought up with the following schemes:

a) Interest Subsidy Scheme for Housing the Urban Poor (ISHUP) has been

conceived for providing interest subsidy on housing urban poor to make

the housing affordable and within the repaying capacity of EconomicallyWeaker Section. The scheme encourages poor sections to avail of loan

facilities through Commercial Banks/HUDCO for the purposes of

construction of houses and avail 5% subsidy in interest payment for loans

upto Rs. 1 lakh.


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b) National Slum Development Programme (NSDP), Night Shelters, Two

Million Housing Scheme, Accelerated Urban Water Supply Programme

(AUWSP), and Low-Cost Sanitation — provide for a wide range of

services to the urban poor including slumdwellers. They include

identification of the urban poor, formation of community groups,involvement of NGOs, self-help/thrift and credit activities, training for

livelihood, credit and subsidy for economic activities, housing and sanitation,

environmental improvement, community assets, wage employment and

convergence of services.

c) Valmiki-Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY) has been introduced in

2001-02 to provide a shelter or upgrading the existing shelter to BPL

people in urban slums. Twenty per cent of the total allocation under

VAMBAY is provided for sanitation and community toilets to be built for

the urban poor and slum dwellers.

d) The Smart Cities Mission and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation andUrban Transformation of 500 cities (AMRUT) with outlays of Rs. 48,000

crore and Rs. 50,000 crore respectively has been launched by government

of India. Under the Smart Cities Mission, each selected city would get

central assistance of Rs.100 crore per year for five years. Under smart

cities initiative, focus will be on core infrastructure services like: Adequate

and clean Water supply, Sanitation and Solid Waste Management, Efficient

Urban Mobility and Public Transportation, Affordable housing for the

poor, power supply, robust IT connectivity, Governance, especially e-

governance and citizen participation, safety and security of citizens, health

and education and sustainable urban environment. Further Atal Mission

for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), a mission aimedat transforming 500 cities and towns into efficient urban living spaces,

with special focus on a healthy and green environment for children.

e) “Housing for All by 2022” has been launched by the Union Cabinet

aimed for urban areas with following components/options to States/Union

Territories and cities:-

• Slum rehabilitation of Slum Dwellers with participation of private

developers using land as a resource;

• Promotion of affordable housing for weaker section through credit linked

subsidy;• Affordable housing in partnership with Public & Private sectors and

• Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction or enhancement.

Central grant of Rs. one lakh per house, on an average, will be available under

the slum rehabilitation programme. Under this State Government would have

flexibility in deploying this slum rehabilitation grant to any slum rehabilitation

project taken for development using land as a resource for providing houses to

slum dwellers.

Issues in implementation of programmes:

The problems in implementation arise both from the people living in the

slums, who lack sensitivity towards the benefits of improvement on the quality

of their lives and also the implementing agencies which are almost non-


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functional. The lack of political will to contain the problem compounds the

issue manifold. All the state governments in the country are not taking this

problem seriously. Many of them do not use the funds allocated to them by

the central government for the specific purpose and the money, thus allocated,

lapses.

Despite facing several impediments, the local, state and central governments

in India have been successful in partially dealing with the problems of slum

dwellers. The data on living conditions and demographic profile of the slum

dwellers collected by the NSSO in its 65th round and compared with its 58th

round highlights the fact that there has been a considerable improvement in

the living conditions in the slums and squatters in India over the last one

decade. However, the rate at which the slums are growing as a result of

unplanned urbanization in the country multiplies the slum problems at a rate

much faster than they are resolved or taken care of.Steps needed:

a) Countries need to recognize that the urban poor are active agents and not

just beneficiaries of development.

b) Developing cities requires local solutions.Local authorities need to be

empowered with financial and human resources to deliver services and

infrastructure to the urban poor. Cities should draw up local long-term

strategies for improving the lives of slum dwellers.

c) Local governments should develop strategies to prevent the formation of

new slums. These should include access to affordable land, reasonably

priced materials, employment opportunities, and basic infrastructure and

social services.

d) Public investments must focus on providing access to basic services and

infrastructure. Working with the urban poor, cities need to invest in housing,

water, sanitation, energy, and urban services, such as garbage disposal.

These services and infrastructure must reach the poor living in informal

settlements.

e) The transportation needs and safety concerns of a city’s poorest residents

should be a high priority in planning urban transportation systems, which

can expand the choices people have regarding where to live and work.

f) Building codes and regulations should be realistic and enforceable and

reflect the lifestyle and needs of the local community. This means, for

example, that they may have to be flexible enough to allow housing that

is built incrementally, out of low-cost materials and on small plots of

land.

Female Infanticide and Feticide

Sex selective abortions cases have become a significant social phenomenon inseveral parts of India. Female foeticide is aborting the female baby in the

mothers’ womb. Whereas female infanticide is killing a baby girl after she is

being born.


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The Census (2011) data showed a significant declining trend in the Child Sex

Ratio1 (CSR) between 0-6 years with an all time low of 918. The issue of

decline in the CSR is a major indicator of women disempowerment. CSR

reflects both, pre-birth discrimination manifested through gender biased sex

selection, and post birth discrimination against girls.

Reasons for female infanticide and feticide

• The main reason is the idea that the male offspring will better support the

family. Since sons are seen as the main source of income, even though

today, women have many career options, the common misconception still

remains that it is the male who will help run the house and look after his

parents, while women are viewed as being like cargo, something to be

shipped off to another household.

• In India, the age-old dowry system puts a damper on the spirits of those

who are blessed with a girl child. When a girl is born, the parents begin

to calculate the expense of her future marriage, the lump sum that will

paid to the future groom’s family. They worry that currency may depreciate

and inflation may skyrocket. Because of this, the birth of a girl is seen as

a tragedy waiting to happen.

• As a result of institutional and cultural sexism, female children and adults

have less power, status, rights, and money. Even as adults, it’s harder for

females to take care of or make decisions for themselves. Centuries of

repression have made inferiority second nature to most women who have

been taught the role of the meek, submissive, docile wife who works

relentlessly to cater to the whims of her husband. Female feticide often

happens with the explicit consent of the mother. Even the mothers-to-beagree to this misdeed out of an inherited cultural bias and a sense of duty

to the family.

• Industrialization of the health sector has further established the practiceof sex selective abortion. With the advent of CVS, amniocentesis, andultrasound, sex determination of the fetus has become much easier. Thesemanufacturers of high-tech equipment and gadgets benefit from thepreference for male children. Many hospitals are known to sign long-termcontracts with the firms involved in the production of these types of machines. Often, a healthy percentage of the profit is shared with thehospital, and both parties enjoy the fruits of rewarding a death sentence.

Impact of skewed child sex ratio

Female feticide has adversely affected Indian society. 36% of men between theages of 15 and 45 in the wealthy state of Haryana are unmarried. Thisprevalence of unmarried men has a destabilizing effect that counteracts thestabilizing and enriching effects of families in a society. The poorer of theseunmarried men seek brides from India’s economically challenged eastern states,and wives obtained in this way tend to be exploited and in some cases passedon from one husband to the next.

The decrease in the boy-to-girl birth ratio, itself the result of the low status of women in Indian society, risks a sharp further decrease in the status of womenfrom bad to worse. The danger is a vicious circle bringing continually greater female feticide and lowering of the status of women in Indian society.

With no mothers to bear children (male or female), there will be fewer births,leading to a decline in population. Though population control is currently the


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goal of many nations like China and India, a total wipeout of one sex is notthe way to achieve this target.

The sex ratios of other countries are listed below:

Vietnam: 892 females /1000 males

South Korea: 934 females /1000 males

USA: 962 females /1000 males

Canada: 943 females /1000 males

UK: 952 females /1000 males

Sri Lanka: 961 females /1000 males

New initiatives

• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana

To ensure survival, protection and empowerment of the girl child, Government

has announced Beti Bachao Beti Padhao initiative, to be implemented through

a national campaign and focussed multi sectoral action.

The initial focus is on 100 selected districts with low CSR, covering all States

and UTs. This is a joint initiative of Ministry of Women and Child Development,

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Human Resource

Development.

The objectives of the scheme are:

a) To prevent Gender biased sex selective elimination: Focussed interventiontargeting enforcement of all existing Legislations and Acts, especially to

Strengthen the implementation of Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic

Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (PC&PNDT Act)

with stringent punishments for violations of the law.

b) To ensure survival& protection of the girl child: Article 21 of the

Constitution defines „protection of life and liberty as a legitimate right

of its citizens. The difference in mortality rates of girls and boys indicates

the difference in access to various health care and nutrition services as

well as the preferential care and treatment given to boys. The access to

various entitlements, changes in patriarchal mind-set etc. are to be addressedin order to ensure equal value, care for and survival of the infant and

young girl child. Further implementation of various legislative provisions

for the protection of the girl child and women has to be ensured to create

a nurturing and safe environment for the girl child.

c) To ensure education & participation of the girl child: The access and

availability of services and entitlements during the various phases of the

life cycle of the Girl Child has a bearing on her development. Essential

requirements related to Nutrition, Health Care, Education and Protection

have to be fulfilled to enable every girl child to develop her full potential

especially the right to quality early childhood care, elementary and

secondary education. Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2010 provides childrenthe right to free and compulsory education till completion of elementary

education in a neighbourhood school. Further, SarvaShikshaAbhiyan (SSA)

is a flagship programme for achievement of universalisation of Elementary

Education (UEE) in a time bound manner, as mandated by 86th


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amendment to the Constitution of India making free and compulsory

Education to the Children of 6-14 years age group, a Fundamental Right.

Denial of these entitlements is a violation of children s rights, which will

have a lasting lifelong negative impact. This will also adversely impact

upon future human development.

• Sukanya Samridhi Yojana:

a) As an integral part of the BetiBachao, BetiPadhao scheme, a small deposit

scheme for girl child, which would fetch an interest rate of 9.1 per cent

and provide income tax rebate, has been introduced by the Union

Government.

b) The Scheme, ‘SukanyaSamridhi Account’ can be opened at any time from

the birth of a girl child till she attains the age of 10 years, with a minimum

deposit of Rs 1000. A maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh can be deposited during

the financial year. The account can be opened in any post office or authorised branches of commercial banks.

c) The scheme primarily ensures equitable share to a girl child in resources

and savings of a family in which she is generally discriminated as against

a male child.

d) The account will remain operative for 21 years from the date of opening

of the account or marriage of the girl child after attaining 18 years of age.

To meet the requirement of higher education expenses, partial withdrawal

of 50 per cent of the balance would be allowed after the girl child has

attended 18 years of age.

Issue of Maternal Mortality

Definition of Maternal Mortality

In India, Maternal Mortality Rate has become a major public health problem.

MMR is defined as death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of

termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of pregnancy,

from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management but

not from accidental or incidental causes.

Facts related to Maternal Mortality:

The present situation of India has been described as below:

• India has recorded a decline in maternal mortality rates between 1990 and

2013 but along with Nigeria it accounted for one third of the global

maternal deaths.

• According to World Health Organization’s Trends in maternal mortality

estimates 1990 to 2013, an estimated 289,000 women died in 2013 from

complications in pregnancy and childbirth, down from 523,000 in 1990.

• Although the MMR dropped but, India is far behind the target of 103

deaths per live births to be achieved by 2015 under the United Nations-

mandated Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

• The MMR in southern states fell 17% from 127 to 105, closer to the

MDGs. Assam and Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand were the worst performing

states, with an MMR of 328 and 292, respectively. Kerala and Tamil

Nadu have surpassed the MDG with an MMR of 66 and 90, respectively.


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• According to the Annual Health Survey (AHS), which covers nine states,

India has made headway in institutionalizing child deliveries, i.e. taking

place in hospitals. More than 40% of child deliveries in Chhattisgarh and

79% in Madhya Pradesh were institutional in 2012, compared with 34.9%

in Chhattisgarh and 76.1% in Madhya Pradesh in 2011.

• The states covered by the AHS are Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,

Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Assam.

• More than 85% of the total births took place in government institutions

in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha in 2011, and this was more than 60% in

the other states surveyed, except Jharkhand, according to the latest AHS

data.

• Total fertility ratio (TFR), or the average number of children given birth

by a woman, reach a preferred level of 2.1 in only 29 out of 284 AHS

districts, whereas in 2011 it was 20 districts, according to the AHS data.

Causes of high MMR in India:

• The most common direct medical causes of maternal death around the

world are hemorrhage, obstructed labor, infection (sepsis) and hypertensive

disorders related to pregnancy, such as eclampsia. These conditions are

largely preventable and once detected, they are treatable.

• Complications from unsafe abortion are another common and preventable

direct cause of maternal death. The NFHS-3 and other studies confirm

the widespread prevalence of these causes of maternal mortality in India.

• A higher incidence of mortality and morbidity is found to occur amongwoman and girls who are poor or low-income, less educated and belong

to socially disadvantaged castes and tribes.

• Child marriage puts young girls and adolescents at significant risk of

pregnancy-related complications and mortality.

• Pregnant women living with HIV/AIDS experience an increased risk of

pregnancy-related fatalities due to outright discrimination.

• The affordability of reproductive health services for women is a major

concern. The burden of high out-of-pocket expenses for reproductive health

care has been identified as a leading cause of poor reproductive healthoutcomes among low-income women in South Asian countries, including

India. This trend may be attributed to the fact that the government spends

less than 1% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on health which in

turn has led to insufficient access to health care services and poor quality

of care. Consequently, hospitalization is frequently a cause of debt among

the poor, which in turn leads to increased poverty.

• Education level has been noted by experts as one of the most important

indicators of women’s status related to maternal mortality, in light of its

affects on fertility rates and access to employment and health care. Female

education and female literacy rates are strongly correlated to high rates of

maternal mortality around the world. Some national-level comparisons

show that literacy is a stronger predictor of maternal health than economic

wealth. Lack of education adversely affects women’s health by limiting

their knowledge about nutrition, birth spacing and contraception.


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• Essential reproductive health services are not available to the majority of

women in India. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) reportsthat a mere 30% of the population receives services through the public

health system. The unavailability of basic reproductive health services

including contraceptives, pre- and postnatal care and emergency obstetriccare, as well as delays in seeking institutional care and the poor quality of

care provided in government hospitals, have contributed dramatically to

maternal deaths.

• High maternal mortality rates correlate strongly with inadequate access tofamily planning information and services. Unwanted pregnancies expose

women to significant risks to their maternal health, including complications

from unsafe abortions and high-risk pregnancies. Studies show that womenfacing unwanted pregnancies are far more likely to seek induced abortions,

including illegal abortions, and are much less likely to receive adequate

prenatal care.

• Most maternal deaths are attributable to the ‘three delays’: the delay in

deciding to seek care, the delay in reaching the appropriate health facility,

and the delay in receiving quality care once inside an institution.

Steps taken by Government:

The right to survive pregnancy and childbirth is a basic human right. Under

international law, the government of India bears a legal obligation to ensure

that women do not die or suffer complications as a result of preventable

pregnancy-related causes. The staggering scale and continuing occurrence of

maternal deaths and morbidity in India reveals the government’s failure to

protect women’s reproductive rights, and comply with international law.Some of the recent initiatives are discussed below:

The government has launched the reproductive and Child Health Programme

Phase II (RCH-II) under the umbrella of the National Rural Health Mission

(NRHM), aims to improve access for rural people, especially poor women and

children to equitable, affordable accountable and effective primary health care,

with a special focus on 18 States, with the ultimate objective of reducing

Infant Mortality, Maternal Mortality and Total Fertility Rates.

The key strategies and interventions under the NRHM for reduction of Maternal

Mortality Ratio are:

• Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), a cash benefit scheme to promote

Institutional Delivery with a special focus on Below Poverty Line (BPL)

and SC/ST pregnant women;

• Operationalizing round the clock facilities for delivery services in the 24X7

Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and First Referral Units (FRUs) including

District Hospitals, Sub-district Hospitals, Community Health Centres and

other institutions.

• Augmenting the availability of skilled manpower thorough various skill-

based trainings of Skilled Birth Attendants; training of MBBS Doctors in

Life Saving Anesthetic Skills and Emergency Obstetric Care includingCaesarean Section.

• Provision of Ante-natal and Post Natal Care services including prevention

and treatment of Anaemia by supplementation with Iron and Folic Acid

tablets during pregnancy and lactation.


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• Organizing Village Health and Nutrition Days (VHNDs) at anganwadi

Centres to impart health and nutrition education to pregnant and lactating

mothers.

• Systems strengthening of health facilities through flexible funds at SubCentres (PHCs) and Community Health Centres (CHCs) and District

Hospitals.

• Provision of early detection of pregnancy, regular check-up of blood

pressure, hemoglobin, fetal growth free of cost.

• Regular home visit by Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) and

sensitizing mothers about the need of taking one extra meal, eight hours

sleep at night and two hours rest at daytime, early detection of complication

of pregnancy etc. ASHAs educate the mothers about the need of

institutional delivery and delivery by skilled birth attendant.

• Provision of arrangement of mothers’ meeting every month at Anganwadi

center.

• Establishment of First Referral Units (FRUs) at block level having provision

of normal delivery, caesarian section and assisted vaginal delivery. FRUs

are equipped with gynecologists, pediatricians, anesthetists and blood

transfusion facility.

• Under VandeMataram scheme gynecologists who are not in Governmental

service, if treat pregnant ladies atGovernment facilities free of cost, then

they receive a particular amount of incentive from the Government and

also get Vande Mataram certificate.

• Some NGOs are working for pregnant ladies in hard to reach area like

hilly areas and delta islands like Sundarban.

• Government of India has launched Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram

(JSSK). The initiative entitles all pregnant women delivering in public

health institutions to absolutely free and no expense delivery, including

caesarean section. The entitlements include free drugs and consumables,

free diet up to 3 days during normal delivery and up to 7 days for C-

section, free diagnostics, and free blood wherever required. This initiative

also provides for free transport from home to institution, between facilitiesin case of a referral and drop back home. Similar entitlements have been

put in place for all sick newborns accessing public health institutions for

treatment till 30 days after birth. This has now been expanded to cover

sick infants.

Issues in implementation

• Corruption is widespread is providing health care facilities. The inability

of pregnant woman to pay the informal demands for money in exchange

for services has been identified as a leading cause of maternal mortality.

It appears that JSY is wrongly being seen as a scheme to cover out-of-

pocket costs for institutional delivery, which is supposed to be free, rather

than as a cash assistance program for nutritional and other support. There

also have been reports of ANMs selling state-provided medicines illegally

and pocketing the earnings.


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• Many institutions are increasing promotion of institutional delivery without

first addressing or improving the quality of care, which has led to poor

services and medical care. Often institutions are not fully staffed or do not

offer services for evening births, leading to women being turned away or

being sent to private hospitals where they may incur huge medical costs.Health centers also have a lack of workable toilets and basic sanitation

facilities. Further, referral systems are weak or nonexistent, leading women

to be shuttled back and forth between providers with no continuity of

care.

• Health workers are not adequately trained, which leads to mismanagement

of delivery cases, such as the widespread, unsupervised use of oxytocin

injections before delivery.

• Certain provisions of the NRHM are problematic insofar as they fail to

take into account circumstances that deny women the ability to control

when, under what circumstances and how often they become pregnant.For instance, in JSY making cash incentives conditional on consent for

sterilization is a form of coerced sterilization, as women who belong to

BPL households are not likely to have the financial ability to reject the

cash payment, even if they prefer a nonpermanent method of birth control.

The implications of these provisions for women’s well-being and basic

human rights have been overlooked by policymakers and need to be

addressed.

New Initiatives

• Maternal Death Review

The process of maternal death review (MDR) has been implemented &

institutionalized by all the States as a policy since 2010. Guidelines and tools

for conducting community based MDR and Facility based MDR have been

provided to the States. The States are reporting deaths along with its analysis

for causes of death.

• Delivery Points (DPs)

All the States & Union Territories have identified DPs above a certain minimum

benchmark of performance to prioritize and direct resources in a focused manner

to these facilities for filling the gaps like trained and skilled human resources,

infrastructure, equipments , drugs and supplies, referral transport etc. for providing quality & comprehensive RMNCH (Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal

& Child Health) services.

• Web Enabled Mother and Child Tracking System

Name Based Tracking of Pregnant Women and Children has been initiated by

Government of India as a policy decision to track every pregnant woman,

infant & child upto 3 yrs, by name for provision of timely ANC, Institutional

Delivery, and PNC along-with immunization & other related services.

• A Joint MCP Card

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Ministry of Women and Child

Development (MOWCD) has been launched as a tool for documenting and

monitoring services for antenatal, intranatal and postnatal care to pregnant

women, immunization and growth monitoring of infants.


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• Tracking of sev

Welfare Policies.pdf

Documents

Transcript of Welfare Policies.pdf