Healthcare, Water, Education: Factors contributing to the lack of essential services for children in India

 

Approximately 206 million children in India, nearly half of the country's child population, lack access to at least one of six essential services: housing, sanitation, clean water, nutrition, education, and health.

"The socio-economic conditions of the underprivileged are such that several members of a family often live in a single room without proper access to utilities; this makes obtaining an education a challenge for them," says aid development economist Amir Ullah Khan.

 

Despite tremendous progress in poverty reduction, roughly 206 million Indian children, nearly half of the country's child population, lack access to at least one of six key services, including education, health, nutrition, housing, clean water, and sanitation.

 

While more than half of India’s 460 million children now have access to basic services, the remaining children, particularly those in vulnerable groups, continue to face structural hurdles.

 

Children with disabilities, younger children, and those living in crisis-hit areas are disproportionately affected, and the continuation of these inequalities is related to unequal progress across regions and people.

 

While India has made progress in reducing multidimensional poverty, the country's poverty rate fell from 29.2% to 11.3% between 2013–14 and 2022–23. Investment in child welfare has plateaued globally, and the benefits of poverty reduction have not been distributed fairly.

 

Despite the existence of flagship government programs such as Poshan Abhiyaan, Samagra Shiksha, PM-KISAN, the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, the Swachh Bharat Mission, and the Jal Jeevan Mission, which have expanded access to nutrition, education, sanitation, and income support, their reach remains insufficient in the most deprived areas.

 

 The report emphasizes that while India is on track to meet its Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of halving multidimensional poverty by 2030, further acceleration of effective programs is needed to reach the "last mile."

 

Additionally, global challenges such as climate shocks, political instability, and national debt are pushing families deeper into hardship, threatening to reverse hard-earned gains.

 

The lack of sustained, equitable investment in child-focused policies, especially in health, learning, and protection, continues to hinder progress.

 

UNICEF calls for institutionalizing child-focused budgets, strengthening public-private partnerships, and ensuring children’s participation in decisions affecting their lives to address these persistent deprivations.