Definition of poor varies from one-to-all. A man with monetary affluences may be poor by mindset. For instance; a differently-abled person with minimal financial support but strong helping intend can be considered as rich by mindset. We all aware of different challenging impediments across the globe but only few of us step beyond the boundaries. Hence, what all we need is emerge out the conscious persona and spread our helping stance to stand by the people who are unable to address their basic amenities or other requirements.

Commonly occurred issues

• Poverty
• Illiteracy/Education
• Abandoned old people
• Differently abled people
• Child labour
• Malnutrition
• Sanitation

Key Reasons

• Financial crisis and population
• Developing nation
• Lack of academic infrastructure and mindset
• Lack of awareness, monetary needs
• Lack of awareness and education

As we prepare to awake our conscious living and stand connected in support of the needy, we should emphasis on the root causes behind these growing issues, which need to be addressed and controlled with our collective efforts and proper channelization. According to industry veterans and research scholars, primarily or secondarily, these causes to a great extent, can be listed as; unemployment, lack of education, financial needs and most importantly, our mindset and lack of awareness.

Poverty and illiteracy, being two challenging impediments in some regions, child labour is still reckoned as one of the critical roadblocks in many other parts of the geographies. In several far-flung terrains of Asia, underprivileged parents force their children to start earning for their livelihoods. Consequence- these children get deprived of education and left with no other option than hunting for their subsistence. In this scenario, if we try to analyse the driving elements behind such action, the key elements to be noted here are; monetary need, lack of edification and mindset, which are still a scarcity in many parts of the country.

More than 200 million children worldwide are still working as child labourers and a staggering 115 million at least, are subject to its worst forms. As per the National Census 2011, there are close to 10.1 million child labourers in India, in the age group of 5 to 14 years.

• 10.13 million child labourers between 5-14 years in India (2011 Census data)
• Child labour in 2011 has decreased by around 20% from 2001 Census Figures
• There are 22.87 million working children in India between 15-18 years.
• As per 2011 Census, 1 in 11 children are working in India (5-18 years)
• 80% of the child labour in India is concentrated in rural areas
• ILO 2016 data indicates that there are 152 million working children in the world between 5-17 years, of which 23.8 million children are in India. So 16% of the working children (or every 6th working child) in this age group is in India

• 1 in 4 children of school-going age is out of school in our country – 99 million children in total have dropped out of school (Census 2011)
• Out of every 100 children, only 32 children finish their school education age-appropriately (District Information System for Education (DISE) 2014-15)
• Only 2% of the schools offer complete school education from Class 1 to Class 12 (District Information System for Education (DISE) 2014-15)
• There are 10.13 million child labourers between 5-14 years in India (Census 2011)
• India has 33 million working children between the ages of 5-18 years. In parts of the country, more than half the child population is engaged in labour (Census 2011)
• 42% of married women in India were married as children (District Information System for Education (DISE 3)
• 1 in every 3 child brides in the world is a girl in India (UNICEF)
• India has more than 45 lakh girls under 15 years of age who are married with children. Out of these, 70% of the girls have 2 children (Census 2011)

We often ignore the extent of discrimination that lies in various rural parts of various countries. Three such critical discrimination that we need to mitigate in no time are; girl child, gender inequality and child marriage. Girl child and gender inequality are two different sides of a coin, and hence, need to be taken care of urgently. Besides, in several parts of the country, birth of a baby girl is still not welcomed in true spirit, which gradually gives birth to gender inequality between boys and girls. While, many opine that girls are the burden for a family and therefore, parents want to get rid of their girl child by fixing their marriage at the early age. Though, child marriage is evenly impactful for both boys and girls, but in most cases, it is the girl who gets affected the worst. Similar to child labour, child trafficking is one more serious issue that leads to child exploitation in various countries.

Walking in the epoch of advanced technology, when we observe such agonising instances around, it leaves us speechless! But when we try to find out the root causes and analyse them critically, we can relate these causes to a certain extent. Two prime reasons resulting into issues like; child marriage, child trafficking, gender inequality and gild child are, poor mindset and lack of conscious living. And these issues are very much controllable with adequate channelization and awareness.

Despite being an abode to 136 crores population or more, when it comes to poverty and illiteracy, India stands no far in comparison. Although, the percentage of illiteracy has shown a phenomenal progress in the past few years, and the poverty rate on the other hand, has also declined manifold; but to make it more stable and suitable in the today’s economic infrastructure, various government organisations and industrialists should come forward voluntarily.

Fast Facts

• 1 in 4 children of school-going age is out of school in our country – 99 million children in total have dropped out of school (Census 2011)
• Out of every 100 children, only 32 children finish their school education age-appropriately (District Information System for Education (DISE) 2014-15)
• Only 2% of the schools offer complete school education from Class 1 to Class 12 (District Information System for Education (DISE) 2014-15)
• There are 10.13 million child labourers between 5-14 years in India (Census 2011)
• India has 33 million working children between the ages of 5-18 years. In parts of the country, more than half the child population is engaged in labour (Census 2011)
• Every day, around 150 children go missing in India – kidnapping and abduction is the largest crime against children in our country (National Crime Record Bureau 2016)
• Over the last 10 years, crimes against children has increased 5 times over (National Crime Record Bureau Data Series)
• Fear of failure in examinations in the second highest cause of suicides in children (Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India ADSI 2014) *
• 19.8 million children below age 6 in India are undernourished (ICDS 2015)
• Only 9.6% of children between 6-23 months in the country receive an adequate diet (NFHS 4, 2015-16)
• 38% (1 in 3 )of children between 0-5 years are stunted in the country (NFHS 4, 2015-16)
• 21% (1 in 5) of the children in the country suffer from wasting (NFHS 4, 2015-16)
• 36% of children under 5 years of age are underweight in India (NFHS 4, 2015-16)
• 58% of children between 6months – 5 years were found to be anaemic in the country (NFHS 4, 2015-16)
• Total Immunisation coverage in the country stood at 62% in 2015-16 (NFHS 4, 2015-16)
• 21% of the births in the country were home births (NFHS 4, 2015-16)
• Only 21% of mothers (1 in 5) received full antenatal care in the country (NFHS 4, 2015-16)
• More than 50% of the pregnant women aged 15-49 years were found to be anaemic (NFHS 4, 2015-16)
• 42% of married women in India were married as children (District Information System for Education (DISE) 3)
• 1 in every 3 child brides in the world is a girl in India (UNICEF)
• India has more than 45 lakh girls under 15 years of age who are married with children. Out of these, 70% of the girls have 2 children (Census 2011)
• While tackling the issues that poverty has given rise to, ‘charity’ alone is not a lasting solution to enable change for the millions of children living in India today, who have little or no access to food or education and are exploited daily. A rights-based approach ensures that entitlements are available to all children without any discrimination. They are universal and non–negotiable.

Akin to other major issues cited above, malnutrition is another critical point of consideration in today’s world. Countries like; Congo, Haiti, Ethiopia and Zambia are some of the countries that suffer the most due to malnutrition. Key reasons that lead to malnutrition are lack of proper diet, lack of appetite and disrupt digestion. All such factors occur on account of awareness issue and lack of educational and medical infrastructure in most of the poorer and developing nations. Such issues can easily be mitigated with our generous approach and uniformed endeavour.

While tackling the issues mentioned above, ‘charity’ alone is not a lasting solution to enable change for the millions of under privilege people living , who have little or no access to food or education and are exploited daily. We need to establish a planet of mankind enclosed with a blend of conscious living and generosity where, the amenities of needy souls are identified, prioritized and addressed. 

Need ignite the inner accountability and willingness in mankind to awake, rediscover their potentials and stand collective for the benefits of deprived across the sphere