Highlights of the Report ‘Children in India 2012- A Statistical Appraisal’ *

Backgrounder

Highlights of the Report ‘Children in India 2012- A Statistical Appraisal’ *

• While an absolute increase of 181 million in the country’s population has been
recorded during the decade 2001-2011, there is a reduction of 5.05 millions in the
population of children aged 0-6 years during this period. The decline in male
children is 2.06 million and in female children is 2.99 millions.

• The share of Children (0-6 years) in the total population has showed a decline of 2.8
points in 2011, compared to Census 2001 and the decline was sharper for female
children than male children in the age group 0-6 years.

• The overall sex ratio of the Country is showing a trend of improvement, whereas the
child sex ratio is showing a declining trend. During the period 1991 -2011, child sex
ratio declined from 945 to 914, whereas the overall sex ratio showed an
improvement from 927 to 940.

• As per Census 2011, the State/ UTs with alarmingly low (<900) child sex ratio are,
Haryana (830), Punjab (846), Jammu & Kashmir (859), Delhi (866), Chandigarh
(867), Rajasthan (883), Maharashtra (883), Uttrakhand (886), Gujarat (886), Uttar
Pradesh (899). The State/ UTs which are having better (> =950) child sex ratio are
Mizoram, (971), Meghalaya (970), A &N Islands (966), Puducherry (965),
Chattisgarh (964), Arunachal Pradesh (960), Kerala (959), Assam (957), Tripura
(953), West Bengal (950).

• Though, the child sex ratio in rural India is 919 which is 17 points higher than that
of urban India, the decline in Child Sex Ratio (0-6 years) during 2001-2011 in rural
areas is more than three times as compared to the drop in urban India.

• Compared to 2001, the number of districts in the lowest category of child sex ratio
(<= 850) has increased in rural areas whereas the number of districts in this category
has declined in urban areas in 2011.

• Compared to 2000-2005 period, where sex ratio dipped continuously (from 892 to
880), the period 2005-10, has showed slight improvement (from 892 to 905).

• Among the major States, as per SRS 2008-10, Sex Ratio at Birth is lowest in Punjab
(832) followed by Haryana (848) and highest in Chattisgarh (985), followed by
Kerala (966).
• Comparing the results of 2002-04 and 2008-10, Sex ratio at birth declined in Tamil
Nadu (decline of 19 points) and Orissa (decline of 6 points) whereas all the other
bigger States showed improvement during this period.

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• The State/ UTs which have achieved 100% level of birth registration in 2007 are
Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland,
Punjab,Tamil nadu, Chandigarh, Lakshadeep and Puducherry.

• The Sample Registration System, in 2010, estimated that, out of the total deaths
reported, 14. 5% are infant deaths (< 1 years), 3.9% are deaths of 1-4 years children,
18.4% are deaths of children of 0-4 years and 2.7% deaths pertained to children of
5-14 years.

• The percentage of infant deaths to total deaths varies substantially across the states.
From moderate level of 2.8% in Kerala, 5.0% in Tamil Nadu to as high as 21.8% in
Rajasthan , 21.2% in Uttar Pradesh, 20.4% in Madhya Pradesh with other states
figuring in between these states. The percentage of under five deaths to total deaths
ranges from 3.2% in Kerala 5.9% in Tamil Nadu to 27.6% in Uttar Pradesh, 26.6%
in Rajasthan, 26.4%in Madhya Pradesh, 26.7% in Bihar while other states figure in
between these states.

• At the national level, the percentage share of infant deaths to total deaths in rural
areas is 15.8%, whereas in urban areas, the same is 9.7%.

• In 2010, the percentage of neonatal deaths to total infant deaths is 69.3% at
national level and varies from 61.9% in urban areas to 70.6% in rural areas. Among
the bigger States, Jammu & Kashmir (82.1%) registered the highest percentage of
neonatal deaths to infant deaths and the lowest is in Kerala (53.2%).

• In 2010, the neonatal mortality rate (neonatal deaths per thousand live births) at
national level is at 33 and ranges from 19 in urban areas to 36 in rural areas. Among
bigger states, neo-natal mortality rate is highest in Madhya Pradesh (44) and lowest
in Kerala (7).

• At the national level, the early neo –natal mortality rate for the year 2010 has been
estimated at 25 and ranges from 28 in rural areas to 15 in urban areas. Among the
bigger States, Kerala (5) and Madhya Pradesh (34) are at the two extremes.

• The percentage of early neo – natal deaths to the total infant deaths during the year
2010, at the national level has been 53.9 and it varies from 54.6 in rural areas to
49.6 in urban areas. Among bigger States, the percentage of early neo natal deaths
for total infant deaths varies from the lowest level of 38.7% in Kerala to the highest
level of 69.4% in Jammu & Kashmir.

• In 2010, IMR is reported to be 47 at the national level, and varies from 51 in rural
areas to 31 in urban areas.

• Infant mortality has declined for males from 78 in 1990 to 46 in 2010 and for
females the decline was from 81 to 49 during this period. The per year decline in
IMR was 1.6 points for both males and females and the percentage decline in female

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IMR is 39.5% and the percentage decline in male IMR is 41.02% during the last two
decades.

• Female infants experienced a higher mortality rate than male infants in all major
states.

• Though the Urban and Rural gap in infant mortality has declined over the years, still
it is very significant. IMR has declined in urban areas from 50 in 1990 to 31 in
2010, whereas in rural areas IMR has declined from 86 to 51 during the same
period.

• SRS based U5MR in India for the year 2010, stands at 59 and it varies from 66 in
rural areas to 38 in Urban areas. The under five mortality rate is higher for females
than males as in 2010, U5MR stood at 64 for females whereas it is 55 for males.

• As per Coverage Evaluation Survey, 2009, at national level, 61% of the children
aged 12-23 months have received full immunization. The coverage of immunization
was higher in urban areas (67.4%) compared to that in the rural areas (58.5%).

• In 2009, nearly 8% children of the children aged 12-23 months did not receive even
a single vaccine.

• Nearly 62% of the male children aged 12-23 months have received full
immunization, while among the females it was nearly 60%.

• While 67.4% of first birth order children are fortunate enough to receive full
immunization, only 40.4% were so in the category of birth order 4 and above are
covered under full immunisation.

• The full immunization coverage of children age 12- 23 months of mother’s
education with 12 or more years is 76.6% whereas for mothers who had no
education only 45.3% of children got full immunization.

• About 75.5% of children of less than one year belonging to the highest wealth index
group are fully immunized while only 47.3% from the lowest quintile are fully
immunized.

• The full immunization coverage of children age 12-23 months is highest in Goa
(87.9%), followed by Sikkim (85.3%), Punjab (83.6%), and Kerala (81.5%). The
full immunization coverage is lowest in Arunachal Pradesh (24.8%).

• Evident from the 2008/09 HIV estimates (latest Sentinel surveillance rounds), in
2009, the number of HIV infections has decreased from 24.42 lakhs in 2008 to
23.95 lakhs in 2009. However, the percent distribution of HIV infections for the age
group 0- 15 years has increased from 4.20% in 2008 to 4.36% in 2009, indicating
increased number of HIV infected children in 2009.

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• The prevalence of low birth weight babies (less than 2.5 kg at birth) is 22.5% as
estimated by NFHS 3, but In NFHS 3 birth weight was reported only in 34.1% of
cases of live births (60% of urban and 25% of rural).

• As per NFHS 3, 48% of children under age five years are stunted (too short for their
age) which indicates that, half of the country’s children are chronically
malnourished. Acute malnutrition, as evidenced by wasting, results in a child being
too thin for his or her height. 19.8% of children under five years in the country are
wasted which indicates that, one out of every five children in India is wasted. 43%
of children under age five years are underweight for their age.

• During the period between NFHS 2 (1998-99) & NFHS 3 (2005-06), decline has
been observed for stunting and underweight among children under 3 years of age,
whereas the percentage of children wasted has increased.

• Higher is the percentage of underweight female children (< 5 years) than male
children, whereas females are in a slighlty better position compared to male children
(< 5 years) while considering stunting and wasting.

• The NFHS 3 (2005-06) results also indicates that malnutrition is more prevalent
among children in the higher birth order category.

• The rural India is witnessing more malnutrition among children < 5 years as higher
percentage of stunted, wasted and underweight children were reported from rural
areas.

• High malnutrition of all types prevails in the group of illiterate mothers and
mother’s with less than 5 year’s education.

• Malnutrition among children is highest for underweight mothers.

• The percentage of underweight children in the lowest wealth index category
(56.6%) is nearly 3 times higher than that in the highest wealth index category
(19.7%).

• The States with more than 50 percent children under five years of age underweight
are Madhya Pradesh (60%), Jharkhand (56.5%) and Bihar (55.9%).

• District level Household Survey (DLHS -3 2007-08) shows only 40.5% children are
fortunate to be breastfed within one hour of child birth.

• Among male and female children (6-59 months) the percentage of children with any
anaemia was reported as 69% and 69.9% respectively, severe anaemia was reported
for 3.2 % male children and 2.7% female children.

• Anaemia was more prevalent in Rural areas (71.5%), than Urban areas (63%).

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• For 81.9% severely anaemic mothers, their children were anaemic whereas 61.5 %
mothers without anaemia reported anaemia among children.

• Percentage of children with severe anaemia among severe anaemia mothers was
nearly seven times higher than that among mothers not anaemic.

• About 76.4% of children (6-59 months) in the lowest wealth index are suffering
from anaemia whereas 56.2% children of the highest wealth index are suffering
from anaemia.

• Anaemia prevalence among children of (6-59 months) is more than 70 percent in
Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka and Jharkhand. Anaemia prevalence among children of (6-59 months) is
less than 50 percent in Goa, Manipur, Mizoram, and Kerala. For the remaining
States, the anaemia prevalence is in the range of 50% - 70%.

• As per Statistics of school education, 2009-10, there are 14.49 lakhs educational
institutions in the Country.

• About 89% teachers in the Higher Secondary Schools/ Junior Colleges were trained
whereas the corresponding level in High /Post Basic Schools, Middle/ Sr.Basic
School and Pre-Primary/Primary/ Jr.Basic School are 90%, 88% and 86%
respectively.

• Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at primary level is high at 115%, and Net Enrolment
Ratio (NER) has improved significantly from 84.5% in 2005- 06 to 98% in 2009-10.
High GER at primary level, however, indicates the presence of over-age and under
age children, possibly due to early and late enrolment or repetition. During this
period, Net enrolment ratio (NER) at Primary level has shown improvement in most
of the State / UTs of the country.

• GER at upper primary level is low, but had shown considerable improvement of
16.8 percentage points in the four years between 2005 and 2009. NER at upper
primary is a cause of concern. It varies from 35.76% in Sikkim to 90.51% in Tamil
Nadu. Thus, although more children are entering the education system, many are not
progressing through the system. Upper primary NER at 58.3% gives a clear
indication of the ground to be covered.

• The share of girls in the total enrolment at primary and upper primary level was
19% and 46.5% respectively in the year 2005-06; this increased to 48.5 and 48.1 at
primary and upper primary levels respectively in 2009-10.

• In general, at the national level, the number of girls enrolled in all levels, i.e.
primary, secondary and higher education is less than their counterparts. However,
the female-male ratio in education has been steadily improving over the years. In
primary education, the GPI ratio has gone up from 0.76 in 1990-91 to 1.00 in 2009 -

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10 showing 31.6% increase and in secondary education the increase is from 0.60 in
1990-91 to 0.88 in 2009-10 thereby showing 46.7% increase.

• The Census found an increase in the number of child labourers from 11.28 million
in 1991 to 12.66 million in 2001.

• The major occupations engaging child labour are Pan, Bidi & Cigarettes (21%),
Construction (17%), Domestic workers (15%) and Spinning & weaving (11%).

• As per census 2001, Uttar Pradesh (15.22%) recorded the highest share of child
labour in the country, followed by Andra Pradesh (10.76%), Rajasthan (9.97%),
Bihar (8.82%), Madhya Pradesh (8.41%), and West Bengal (6.77%).

• There is considerable increase in the absolute number of child labour between 1991
and 2001 in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Bihar,
West Bengal, Haryana, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Nagaland, Assam,
Meghalaya, and Delhi, whereas the States of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Orissa, Gujarat and Kerala have shown significant
decline in the number of child labour.

• Sikkim had the highest Work Participation Rate (WPR) in the country with 12.04 %
child labourers among total children in the age group of 5-14 years, followed by
Rajasthan 8.25 % and Himachal Pradesh (8.14%) during 2001. The other states
having higher than the national average of 5 percent WPR for children are Andhra
Pradesh (7.7%), Chattisgarh (6.96%), Karnataka (6.91%), Madhya Pradesh (6.71%),
J&K (6.62%), Arunachal Pradesh (6.06%), Jharkhand and Assam (5.07%).

• As per the NFHS -3 (2005-06), nearly 11.8% children age 5-14 years works either
for their own household or for somebody else.

• The very young children (age 5-7 years), both boys and girls, are mainly doing
unpaid work for someone who is not a member of their household. The older boys
age 12-14 are mainly engaged in paid work or family work, whereas girls in this age
group are involved mainly in household chores or family work.

• Notably, at all ages, girls are more likely than boys to be doing chores and boys are
more likely than girls to be working for someone who is not a member of the
household or doing other family work.

• Rural children age 5-14 years (12.9%) are more likely to be engaged in work than
their urban counterparts (8.6%).

• The percentage of children engaged in work activities decreases steadily with
mother’s increasing education, father’s increasing education, and increasing wealth
quintile. One in every 7 children in the lowest and second lowest wealth index
category is working.

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• It is alarming that, in 2011, the Crimes against children reported a 24% increase
from the previous year with a total of 33,098 cases of crimes against Children
reported in the country during 2011 as compared to 26,694 cases during 2010.

• The State of Uttar Pradesh accounted for 16.6% of total crimes against children at
national level in 2011, followed by Madhya Pradesh (13.2%), Delhi (12.8%),
Maharashtra (10.2%), Bihar (6.7%) and Andra Pradesh (6.7%).

• In 2011, among the IPC crimes, an increase of 43% was registered in Kidnapping
and Abduction, while rape cases were increased by 30%, Procuration of minor girls
recorded an increase of 27% and Foeticide reported an increase of 19% over 2010.
In 2011, Buying of girls for Prostitution showed a decline of 65%, and selling of
girls for Prostitution reported decline of 13% compared to 2010. Infanticide showed
a decline of 37 points during this period.

• The States of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi together accounted for 47.6% kidnapping and
abduction of children reported in the Country.

• The States of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra together accounted
for 44.5% of the child rape cases reported in the Country in 2011.

• A total of 132 cases of foeticide were reported in 2011, of which the highest number
registered from Madhya Pradesh, followed by Chattisgarh and Punjab and these
States together reported 56% of the total Foeticide registered in 2011 in the
Country.

• An increase of 27% is observed in the Crime of Procuration of Minor Girls, ie.862
cases in 2011 compared to 679 cases in 2010. West Bengal has reported 298 such
cases, indicating a share of 34.6% at national level followed by Bihar (183), Assam
(142) and Andra Pradesh (106).

• Maharashtra accounted for 74% of the total 27 cases of ‘buying of girls for
prostitution’ and West Bengal has accounted for 77% of the total 113 cases of
‘selling of girls for prostitution’.

• A total of 113 cases under prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 were reported in
the country out of which highest were reported in West Bengal (25), followed by
Maharashtra(19), Andhra Pradesh(15), Gujarat(13) and Karnataka(12).

• Considering all the Crimes against children, the Crime rate (ratio of number of
crimes to population) has marginally increased from 2.3 in 2009 to 2.7 in 2011. The
rate was highest in Delhi (25.4) followed by A & N Islands (20.3), Chandigarh (7)
and Chattisgarh (7), Madhya Pradesh (6) and Goa (5.1).

• The average charge sheeting rate for all the Crimes against children was 82.5% in
2011, which was the same in 2010 as well. The highest charge sheet rate was
observed in cases under ‘Buying of girls for prostitution’ (100%) followed by
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‘Rape’ (97.3%) in comparison to the prevailing national level charge sheeting rate
of 78.8% for the IPC Crimes and 93% for SLL Crimes. The lowest charge sheet rate
was found in cases of ‘Foeticide’.

• The Conviction rate at national level for the crimes committed against children
stood at 34.6%. The conviction rate for ‘infanticide (other than murder)’ was highest
at 46.9% followed by cases under ‘murder’ (45.5%).

• During 2006-2011, the trend in human trafficking cases reported under the heads of
‘Procuration of Minor Girls, Importation of girls, Selling of girls for prostitution,
Buying of girls for prostitution Immoral Traffic (Prev.)Act’, shows an overall
declining trend, with year to year variation. From nearly 5000 cases in 2006, it
declined over the years, touching the lowest in 2009 (2848 cases) increased to 3422
cases in 2010, and 3517 cases in 2011.

• In 2011, 69% of cases of human trafficking are cases booked under Immoral Traffic
(Prevention) Act 1956, though there is a decline of 2.6% in 2011 compared to 2010.
Andra Pradesh accounted for 20.4% and Tamil nadu accounted for 17.2% cases of
cases under this category, in 2011.

• An increase of 122.2% has been observed in cases of ‘importation of girls’ during
2010-11, and 56% of these cases reported in 2011 are from Madhya Pradesh.

• The increasing trend in incidence of Juvenile Crimes (under IPC) is a matter of
grave concern, though the percentage of juvenile crimes to total crimes is around
1% during 2001 to 2011.

• The increasing trend in incidence of Juvenile Crimes (under IPC) is a matter of
grave concern, though the percentage of juvenile crimes to total crimes is around
1% during 2001 to 2011.

• The juvenile IPC crimes in 2011 have increased by 10.5% over 2010 as 22,740 IPC
crimes by juveniles were registered during 2010 which increased to 25,125 cases in
2011. Major Juvenile crimes were under ‘Theft’ (21.17%), Hurt (16.3%) and
Burglary (10.38%) in 2011.

• The highest decrease in Juvenile delinquency was observed under the crime head
'Preparation & Assembly for Dacoity' (35.3%),'Death due to negligence' (25.6%)and
'Criminal breach of trust' (14.0%) in 2011 over 2010. The highest increase in the
incidence of juvenile crimes was observed under the heads 'Counterfeiting'
(81.8%),'Dowry deaths' (63.2%), 'Arson' (57.6%) and 'Kidnapping & abduction of
women & girls'(53.5%).

• Juvenile delinquency under SLL crimes has increased by 10.9% in 2011 as
compared to 2010 as 2,558 cases of juvenile delinquency under SLL were reported
in 2010 which increased to 2,837 in 2011, while there was substantial decrease of
40.8% in 2010 as compared to 2009.
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• A large number of Juvenile crimes (SLL) were reported under Gambling Act
(14.77%) followed by Prohibition Act (10.7%). Cases under 'Indian Passport Act'
and 'Forest Act' have registered a sharp decline of 66.7% each, while cases under
‘Prohibition of Child Marriage Act’ and 'Immoral Traffic (P) Act' registered sharp
increase of 200% and 50% respectively.

• The States of Madhya Pradesh (19.9%)), Maharashtra (19%), Chhattisgarh (8.7%),
Andhra Pradesh (7.3%), Rajasthan (7.3%) and Gujarat (6.4%) have reported high
incidence of juvenile crimes under IPC.

• Out of the total 888 juvenile murder cases reported in the Country in 2011,
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh reported 16.3% and 12.6% cases. The highest
incidence of the juvenile rape cases in the country was reported from Madhya
Pradesh (23.6%) followed by Uttar Pradesh (12.7%) and Maharashtra (10.9%) in
the country. The highest incidence of the juvenile theft in the country was reported
from Maharashtra (23.6%).

• The highest number of juvenile delinquency cases under Special and Local Laws
was reported from Tamil Nadu (23.7%) of total juvenile crimes under SLL followed
by Chhattisgarh (18.1%), Gujarat (16.4%), Maharashtra (10.4%) and Madhya
Pradesh (9.7%).

• A total of 33,887 juveniles were apprehended during 2011 out of which 31,909 were
boys and 1,978 were girls.

• The percentage of girls to total juveniles was 5.84% whereas the percentage share
relating to 2010 was 5.1%.

• Out of total 33,887 Juveniles arrested, 30,766 (90.7%) were arrested under IPC
crimes while 3,121 (9.3%) were arrested for committing SLL crimes.

• The percentage shares of Juveniles apprehended under the age groups 7-12 years,
12-16 years, 16-18 years are 3.3%, 32.5% and 63.9% respectively.

• An increase has been observed in number of juveniles apprehended in all the age
groups in 2011 over 2010, and the highest percentage increase was for 7-12 age
group (30.6%) whereas the rise in crimes in 12-16 years and 16-18 years were 8.9%
and 12.5% respectively.

• Maharashtra has reported the highest number of juveniles arrested (20.9%) under
IPC crimes followed by Madhya Pradesh (17.9%), Rajasthan (7.9%), Andhra
Pradesh (7.9%), Chhatisgarh (7.1%), and Gujarat (6.4 %).

• In 2011, the states of Madhya Pradesh (406) and Maharashtra (353) reported the
highest number of girl offenders under IPC which constituted 49.54% of the total
girl juveniles apprehended.
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• In 2011, the states of Chattisgarh (178) and Gujarat (121) reported the highest
number of girl offenders under SLL which constituted 67.04% of the total girl
juveniles apprehended.

• Out of the total juveniles involved in various crimes, 81.4% are children living with
parents, whereas the share of homeless children involved in various crimes are 5.7%
and the remaining are children living with guardians.

• Out of the total juveniles involved in various crimes 18.1% are illiterate and 37.8%
had education up to primary level. 31 % juveniles belonged to the education level of
above primary but below secondary category and 13.11% are with secondary/
higher secondary & above education.

• About 57% of juveniles belonged to the poor families whose annual income is up to
Rs. 25,000/. The share of juveniles from families with income between 25,000/- and
50,000/- is 27%. The share of juveniles hailing from middle income group (50,000 -
2,00,000) is 11%.

* Full Report is available on the website of Ministry of statistics and Programme
Implementation, Government of India.

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Highlights of the Report ‘Children in India 2012- A Statistical Appraisal’ *

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