Sanitation, clean fuel and health issues are challenging for millions of families

- Leaders who are making a fuss over various issues do not notice the plight of children in the country

- The health care sector has improved, but maternity and child health are being neglected

The central government and its ministers often talk about the dangers posed by Pakistan, Hindutva, disturbances in parliament, agitators, racism in politics, 40 years without development, etc., but I have never heard anything said about the country's children, especially their health and education. .

I seriously study the often published Annual Status of Education Report (ASER). We have reports for 2018 and 2020 and now ASER for 2021 has been published on 15th November.

Simultaneously, the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) -2 (2013-21) was also published. Since Survey-2 has been prepared on the pattern of National Family Health Survey-2, it has become easy to compare.

The true picture of India is displayed in ASER 2021 and National Family Health Survey-2. Both reports have been available to the public for the past two weeks, but I do not think the Prime Minister, the Minister of Education or the Minister of Health have spoken about it.

The main conclusions of both reports

Both of these reports assess the impact of the epidemic. These reports cannot be set aside by arguing that these are the results of a single event. The findings of these reports are disappointing. The main observations of the reports are as follows: -

ASER 2021 (Rural)

1. There seems to be a clear picture of children turning from private to government schools.

. There is a steady increase in tuition taken by children.

. The number of having smartphones has increased but whether children can connect with it is an issue.

. Support for home-based learning has declined as schools resume.

. There has been a modest increase in the availability of teaching materials for children.

NFHS 2017-21

1. The total fertility rate has reached 3.0 (moderately lower than the replacement rate), but the population of the three states (including the poorer states) continues to grow at a higher rate.

. Issues of sanitation, clean fuel and health continue to be a challenge for millions of families.

. Mortality rates are declining, though unacceptably high.

. Depression and vitiligo are major challenges for children.

Looking at education and health issues, it seems that children are neglected in India. Children are considered the future of the country. There is hardly any public discussion in India about the problems of children. The Ministry of Women and Child Development, which was set up for the welfare of children, also seems to be in a trance.

Increase in inequality

In most countries, inequality is seen in different sections of society. The greatest disparities are in income and wealth. In India, this inequality is further compounded by the combination of religion and caste. Socially and economically weaker sections are discriminated against and even ignored. Under such circumstances, the condition of education and health of this class of children is unimaginable.

Although ASER and NFHS do not provide data on religion or gender, these data are for children. We need to look at how children are raised in contemporary India. Especially in times of epidemics.

My conclusion is as follows:

Couples may have fewer children, but their children do not have the same number of girls or boys.

The administration of the three poorest states is constantly deteriorating. The population is growing faster than the national average. This means more children are being added to poorer states. Poverty eradication measures in these states seem to have failed.

Despite many claims, India is still not free from natural disasters. The free cylinder scheme has not been successful as claimed.

The health care sector has improved, but maternal and child health is being neglected. High rates of infant mortality and infant mortality are not acceptable.

Nutrition remains a major challenge in children. This is evidenced by the high percentage of dementia and vitiligo.

The loss of education has been huge in 2030-21 and 2021-2. Schools in India were closed for 3 weeks against the global average of 6 weeks. Due to migration and financial stress, children are moving from private schools to government schools. The government's ability to accommodate large numbers of children is in doubt. It has been reported that when the schools were closed, only 4.50% of the children were getting education materials. Basic skills such as reading and math level have been below.

Will the government take a moment to say a word about the plight of our country's children?