Malnutrition
According to a report by the Gujarat government published in August 2023, the percentage of malnourished children under the age of five in the state has decreased from 38.3% in 2020 to 36.1% in 2023. The report also states that the percentage of severely malnourished children has decreased from 11.4% to 9.9%.
Children drop out from School
As per the data presented in the Rajya Sabha, Gujarat has 1.43 lakh children between the ages of 6 to 18 years who are not enrolled in school. Among them, 82,778 are girls and 60,629 are boysin the elementary level. This places Gujarat as the third state with the highest number of out-of-school children, following Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The information is sourced from the IMRB report. Specifically, 36,522 children are not attending secondary education.
Child Mortality
Child mortality is a major problem in Gujarat, with the state having a higher child mortality rate (CMR) than the national average. CMR is the number of deaths of children under the age of five per 1,000 live births. In 2020-21, the CMR in Gujarat was 3.49%, while the national average was 2.9%.
Malnutrition and neonatal mortality are two major contributors to child mortality in Gujarat. Malnutrition is a condition that results from a lack of essential nutrients in the diet. It can weaken a child’s immune system and make them more susceptible to diseases. Neonatal mortality is the death of a child within the first 28 days of life. It is often caused by premature birth, birth defects, and infections.
There is a significant rural-urban divide in child mortality rates in Gujarat. The CMR in rural areas is higher than the CMR in urban areas. In 2020-21, the CMR in rural Gujarat was 3.94%, while the CMR in urban Gujarat was 2.86%.
Child Labour
According to the Gujarat government’s Labour Commissionerate, the percentage of child labor in Gujarat in 2023 is 8.13%. This is based on the findings of the Child Labour Survey 2021-22, which was conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on behalf of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.
The survey found that there are an estimated 2.5 lakh child laborers in Gujarat, aged between 5 and 17 years. The majority of child laborers in Gujarat are male (72.2%) and work in the agricultural sector (61.6%).
Child Marriage
According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) conducted in 2019-21, 21.8% of women aged 15-19 in Gujarat were married before the legal age of 18. This means that 1 in 5 girls in Gujarat is married before she turns 18.
Child marriage is more prevalent in rural areas of Gujarat, where 26.9% of girls aged 15-19 are married before 18, compared to 15.5% of girls in urban areas.Child marriage is also more prevalent among girls from marginalized communities, such as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.