Poverty, crime: Have we let down our children?

India accounts for 30% of all children living in extreme global poverty

We celebrate Children’s Day every year on Jawaharlal Nehru’s birthday. World Children’s Day comes within a week of ours on November 20. Most of the activities centre around schools because that’s where most children spend their days. These ceremonies, no doubt, have their relevance, but are they enough?

We need to think about the kind of future that’s unfolding before our children. How safe is the world for our children?

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India accounts for 30 per cent of all children living in extreme global poverty. A recent study conducted by the World Bank Group and Unicef, titled ‘Ending Extreme Poverty: A Focus on Children’, found that extreme poverty disproportionately affects children the world over. Children accounted for half of the extremely impoverished among the population they covered. Children are roughly 50 per cent more likely to live in extreme poverty than adults.

The development of the body and mind is stunted when a child endures the deprivation of basic needs. So poverty in childhood has serious long-term implications which cannot be corrected.

Since India accounts for 30 per cent of children in extreme global poverty, it means that as many as 45 million more children in the country are facing poverty in the last several months.

Do our governments invest time, money and attention in our children? Children are not organised to demand anything. They are voiceless, powerless and defenceless. We are yet to hear about any major initiatives to address the problem of poverty and malnourishment among children, barring the midday meals in schools on working days.

Children’s Day will make sense only when we take concrete actions. The money spent on PR by governments can feed several thousand children every day. In fact, many NGOs are doing a commendable job of addressing these issues, though their scope and outreach are limited.

A nation’s compassion are best manifested in its welfare measures for the safety and protection of its children. In other words, if children are safe and secure in a country, you can safely assume that it’s a safe country for all.

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Now, where do we stand?

The Pocso Act (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012) has been a very significant initiative. What about its implementation? Reports say that cases are mounting. Conviction rates, however, show that many perpetrators of crimes against children go unpunished. In spite of a stringent law in place, the police sometimes do not act with alacrity in atrocities against children.

The National Crime Records Bureau reports that the conviction rate was as low as 19-20 per cent in Karnataka during 2017-19. Procedural flaws account for many acquittals. These flaws must be rectified to be fair to the victimised children.

Children are the most vulnerable section of our society and so, they are the ones who need maximum care and protection. Unfortunately, that is not happening. Children are victimised in many places, including their own homes and even in schools. Homes and schools are supposedly the safest places for children, but it’s shocking to hear about the mindless violence against children even in these places. Violence against children is unpardonable, whatever the excuse. It can be in the name of discipline or better behaviour or learning. However laudable the objective, violence cannot be condoned.

Parents and teachers have to be restrained effectively. They need to learn to control their temper and treat children with sensitivity. The law must come down heavily upon the wrong-doers. Parents cannot claim any immunity for the reason that they are parents. As parents, they have to be more responsible to prevent any physical harm to children. Thus, parental cruelty should be dealt with with more severity.

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In India, children are also being forced into prostitution, child labour and are deprived of schooling. Such incidents also cry for the government’s attention.

Every generation has a curse. It’s called the ‘generational curse’. Today’s has drug addiction.

Children are often made carriers of drugs. The drug mafia targets children to achieve their nefarious ends. This is the cruellest part of the game, which turns lots of children into drug addicts. The life of a child or a young person is ruined if he/she is hooked on drugs. In other words, a promising life will be snuffed out in the bud.

The decision-making authorities need to address these issues with utmost urgency. Concrete and scientific measures are required to set matters right. This generation is at the precipice of a colossal tragedy. Governments must act, and act decisively, here and now.

(The writer is Director, Little Rock Group of Institutions, Udupi)