Social Justice
India’s Child well-being Index Report
- 28 Aug 2019
- 3 min read
According to the recently released Child’s Well-Being Index Report, “Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh & Puducherry topped the charts, while Meghalaya, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh featured at the bottom.”
Child well-being Index Report
- The report is the collaborated work of a research institute IFMR LEAD & an NGO World Vision India.
- The NITI Aayog cited the report as crucial & significant in securing the rights of children and achieving the goal of child well-being, using a composite Child well-being Index.
- Child well-being Index is the tool to comprehensively measure & track children’s well-being.
- The index is computed on the basis of 3 dimensions (that include, healthy individual development, positive relationships, and protective contexts) & 24 indicators.
Insights from the Report
- The report provides insights on varied dimensions such as health, nutrition, education, sanitation, and child protection.
- It highlights the multi-dimensional approach to measure child well-being index. It goes beyond measuring income poverty & targets the holistic development of the children.
- One of the primary objectives of the report was to inspire academic and policy conversations on the under-researched theme of child well-being in India.
Way Forward
- Children are the future of our nation, if neglected, they will exacerbate the burden of poverty and inequality. So, the burden lies on the shoulders of all concerned stakeholders to prioritize and invest in the well-being of our children.
- States need to look at their respective scores on the dimensions of child well-being and need to prepare specific plans of action for priority areas of intervention.
- The report hopes to trigger policy level changes, seek better budgetary allocations and initiate discussions with all stakeholders, which can help in enhancing the quality of life of all children in the country.
- Some of the key indicators that need to be studied in the future include mobile usage, digital access, financial literacy, mental health and quality of relationships between parents/peers and children.
