FROM MR SANTAKAR- senior journalist koraput
I had the opportunity to chair a session in Consultation on State Financing for Children being organised at CYSD in Bhubaneswar on 1st June-2012 . Among others representatives from Unicef, Plan , CYSD , OACRC , CCS, Aide-at Action in addition to Panchanan Kanungo , former Finance minister addressed the gathering . Here are the highlights of the observations made by the speakers based on the prese...ntations :
Highlights of Status of Children and Budget for Children in Odisha
. Children don’t have voices in most of our discussions.
• Increase in the Budget and also the absorption of the allotted budget at grassroots is important .
• Gaps in Budget for children and accountability need to be filled .
• India is a child & youth rich country .
• Child Budget cant be seen in isolation .
• More than finance Attitude was required for the development of children.
• Knowledge + Advocacy could facilitate children to enjoy their rights .
• 39% of India’s Population are children.
• Budget for children need to be mentioned specifically to the department so as to benefit the children .
• Vision 2020 : Till date most of the target is far from achievement .
• There are 43.3 Lakh children in Rural Odisha while 7 Lakhs in Urban Odisha
• Odisha is a state with one of the lowest learning level in children(7th lowest on National Average).
• Odisha is a state of High Drop outs in Elementary education ( 14th highest)
• IMR & MMR – Matter of serious concern in Odisha
• Immunization coverage- 59.5 % only
• Odisha is the tenth worst performing state on various nutrition indicators
• Only 57% children have registered at Birth
• 11.1% of total children are engaged in work
• State provides only 2.2% of its budget for children
• Budget is also suffering from Under spending , Uneven spending , Irrational Prioritisation of issues Out of the total budget for children 87% is spent on providing MDM alone
• There is no budget for Libraries in Schools
2nd part
I had the opportunity to chair a session in Consultation on State Financing for Children being organised at CYSD in Bhubaneswar on 1st June-2012 . Among others representatives from Unicef, Plan , CYSD , OACRC , CCS, Aide-at Action in addition to Panchanan Kanungo , former Finance minister addressed the gathering . Here are the highlights of the observations made by the speakers based on the prese...ntations :
Highlights of Status of Children and Budget for Children in Odisha
. Children don’t have voices in most of our discussions.
• Increase in the Budget and also the absorption of the allotted budget at grassroots is important .
• Gaps in Budget for children and accountability need to be filled .
• India is a child & youth rich country .
• Child Budget cant be seen in isolation .
• More than finance Attitude was required for the development of children.
• Knowledge + Advocacy could facilitate children to enjoy their rights .
• 39% of India’s Population are children.
• Budget for children need to be mentioned specifically to the department so as to benefit the children .
• Vision 2020 : Till date most of the target is far from achievement .
• There are 43.3 Lakh children in Rural Odisha while 7 Lakhs in Urban Odisha
• Odisha is a state with one of the lowest learning level in children(7th lowest on National Average).
• Odisha is a state of High Drop outs in Elementary education ( 14th highest)
• IMR & MMR – Matter of serious concern in Odisha
• Immunization coverage- 59.5 % only
• Odisha is the tenth worst performing state on various nutrition indicators
• Only 57% children have registered at Birth
• 11.1% of total children are engaged in work
• State provides only 2.2% of its budget for children
• Budget is also suffering from Under spending , Uneven spending , Irrational Prioritisation of issues Out of the total budget for children 87% is spent on providing MDM alone
• There is no budget for Libraries in Schools
2nd part
