Child in India: a statistical profile

India has a sizeable proportion of young population. In 1991, the child population (0-14
years) constituted around 36 per cent of the total population of 844 million. According to
population projections, India's child population (0-14 years) would increase to 305 million in 2001. It is expected that by the turn of the century the percentage of child population in thetotal population may fall to 33.2 per cent due to decline in birth rate. The birth rate in India which was around 29 per thousand in 1992 is expected to come down to 21 per thousand in
2001.
There is a growing recognition of the importance of the first six years of life and the
concept that development is a life long process that begins at birth. The development of thechild in early years has an enormous and decisive influence on his future life. Researcheshave shown that the most intense intellectual development of a person takes place before the age of eight.
The Government and voluntary sector are implementing a large number of programmes
for the young child and expectant and nursing mothers to enable children to develop to their
full potential. Despite these efforts the situation of children is far from satisfactory; notable gains on most health, nutrition and other indicators notwithstanding. The infant mortality rate,even though, showing a definite downward trend, was still as high as 80 in 1990; about one- third babies born have low birth weight; and the incidence of malnutrition and morbidity specially among children below three years from the underprivileged sections continues to be high.
It is important for the nation to have a reliable and efficient information system on the
situation of the child which helps us in designing, implementing and monitoring programmes aimed at survival, growth and development of children. Such a system would facilitate analysis of the emerging trends which would serve as pointers in decision making.
In India various Ministries and Departments bring out compilations which provide statistical information on various facets of life of children. But there is hardly any document which gives a comprehensive view of the situation of children in the country. The present document is an attempt to present a comprehensive picture of children in India, their needs and problems and programmes for their welfare and development.
The compilation has eight sections namely Demography and Vital Statistics, Health,
Nutrition; Education; Welfare; Labour, Level of Living; and Outlay and Expenditure on Social
Welfare Services. These contain not only aggregate data at the national level but also break- up by major socio-economic dimensions and States wherever possible. The data contained in the document have been collected mainly from secondary sources. However, some tables have been specially generated for the document on the basis of data collected from various agencies engaged in implementation of schemes in the field of child welfare and development.