India & Poverty
Over the last five decades India has made systematic efforts to alleviate poverty through measures to increase economic growth
An estimated 400 million of the population are between 0-18 years. Life for many of India's children is very hard. Almost half of all children (about 62 million) under the age of five are malnourished and 34 percent of new-borns are significantly underweight. Important achievements have been made in health and education. But India still accounts for 20 per cent of the world's out-of-school children. It has the largest numbers of working children in the world, with nearly a third of children below 16 years working
India's anti poverty programmes are mainly run by the central government.
There are three main types -
1) rural employment creation and infrastructure development programmes
2) self-employment
3) food subsidy programs.
All three have been subject to reform in recent years to ensure better targeting and coverage
(Information provided by Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre)
I researched India as well. I was appalled at my own ignorance about the issue of poverty and to find that a majority of children worked in order to help their families survive. I understand that this is the result of poverty in many cases and many countries even our own and yes even knew it to be the case in today's world, I just failed to acknowledge it. It just becomes all to real an issue when faced with it directly in instances like this. I will never pretend to forget again. Our future are the world's children.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the many reasons I feel so blessed that I was adopted. I can not nor do I want to imagine what my life would have been like had I remained in India.
ReplyDeleteoh - I was born in Calcutta but I was adopted as a baby and have lived in Virginia since I was 7 months old.
Thanks for the post Heather.