Experts from Save the Children and World Vision India raised concerns over the alarming figures of women and child health during an interaction with the media in Ranchi on Thursday and highlighted how child marriages, malnutrition and child mortality rates were interrelated.
According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4, Jharkhand has the most number of malnourished children. The same survey also highlights that at least one out of every three women in the age bracket of 20-24 years in Jharkhand is married off before the age of 18 years. In fact, one out of eight women in the age bracket of 15 to 19 years is already a mother or pregnant in Jharkhand.
“The figures are alarming. What’s worse is the fact that there is no regular updating of these figures, so the data that we are analyzing here may even be worse than what it looks like,” said Sanjay Kumar, Assistant Manager (Programs), Save the Children. The civil society organization, which has been working in the field of child rights for over 100 years now, said on Thursday that the mortality rate of children below the age of five years in Jharkhand is 47.7 per 1000 live births and that it was directly related to underage pregnancy and malnutrition in parents.
“The government only runs campaigns to address malnutrition among children. There is no scheme to improve the health of malnourished parents,” said Madhukar, a senior journalist who has extensively written on child rights in Jharkhand. Along with health issues among children, Jharkhand is also one of the worst-affected states when it comes to child labour. According to the latest census in 2011, as many as 9,95,771 children in the age bracket of five to 18 years were employed as child labourers in brick kilns, garages, hotels, households and other factories here.
During the brainstorming session with the media, social activist Sudhir Pal said that despite being a major concern for the state, issues related to child rights and health have never made it to the manifestos of political parties.
“Why is child rights not an agenda for elections? Given the condition in Jharkhand, it should certainly make it to the manifestos of political parties,” he said.
Meanwhile, a human trafficking and child marriage survivor, Rumi Kumari, who now works with the NGO, said that lack of media presence in rural areas was a reason why issues went unreported. “Child marriages, trafficking and even underage pregnancies are issues plaguing the rural landscape of the state. Due to lack of media presence and awareness in such areas, most of the cases go unreported,” she said.