A district-wise map depicting problems facing children in the country was released as part of the 'National Plan of Action for Children' launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development today.
Called 'Child Vulnerability Map', prepared by NGO Childline India Foundation, it covers 409 of total 678 districts in the country and shows prevalence of various issues affecting children therein.
A digital version of the map is also in the offing.
Different factors that have been mapped include child marriage, child labour, child trafficking, missing and runway children, children affected by civil unrest, child sexual abuse, dropouts & low literacy rate, malnutrition, foeticide, HIV AIDS affected children.
"We have three sources of information- firstly, the recce we carry out in our districts where we operate, secondly, we get calls for assistance and, thirdly, every partner of ours is supposed to carry out an outreach programme designed by us. Through these sources we have collated these details," said an official from Childline India.
According to the map, for example, child trafficking is most prevalent in states like Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.
The worst-affected states in terms of malnutrition are Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Several states in the north-eastern region also fair poorly in this aspect and these are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram.
"This is a planning tool. District officials will be able to match the various government services designed for children with the issues prevalent in that area," said the Childline official.
The "National Plan of Action for Children" (NPAC) which was launched today, looks at four key priority areas- survival, health and nutrition, education and development, protection and participation.
The NPAC defines objectives, strategies as well as indicators for measuring progress under the said priority areas.
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