World Vision India released today the second edition of the India Child Well-Being Report. This report provides data on various child-centric indicators and analyses them through nine dimensions namely- life, bodily health, bodily integrity, senses, imagination, thoughts, emotions, practical reasons, affiliation, play and control over one’s environment. The report also maps the data comparison across different regions, states and districts.
Releasing the report, Krishnamurthy. V. Subramanian Chief Economic Advisor – Government of India in his keynote address said, “Our government is fully committed to securing the rights and well-being of children. Economies grow when child development is a priority. Tracking districts data with a set of real-time indicators will promote healthy competition and encourage each district to achieve the set mandate. I congratulate World Vision India for initiating this discussion using government data.”
Technical partners for the ‘India Child Well-being Report 2020’, include Pathfinder International India, OP Jindal School of Banking and Finance, Poverty Learning Foundation and the University of Melbourne.
Speaking at the report release, Madhav Bellamkonda, National Director and CEO, World Vision India said, “Investments in early childhood development are pertinent for a better tomorrow for our children, especially at a time where uncertainty has intensified around us. Child Well-Being is an important conversation in the development sector and it is critical that we understand it in a holistic manner. We are confident that this report will serve as a guide for policymakers, practitioners and civil societies to understand Child Well-Being and develop child-friendly policies.”
The report was released in the presence of Nayan Chakravarty, Director, Pathfinder International India, Amlan Gupta, Associate Professor & Assistant Dean (Research), OP Jindal Global University, Piyush Tiwari, Professor in Property, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne and Vijay Kumar, CEO, Poverty Learning Foundation.
This report has adopted Nussbaum’s capability approach to measuring Child Well-Being in India. Using capabilities identified by Nussbaum, an index was constructed to define and capture the multidimensionality of Child Well-Being. The Child Well-Being Index is a tool designed to measure and track children’s well-being comprehensively. The Child Well-Being approach puts the quality of life and happiness of the child at the forefront and aims at increasing the capabilities of the child in accordance with the basic indicators in each domain.
The report captures a region-wise analysis in terms of the Child Well-Being index across 640 districts in 28 states and 9 union territories using 99 indicators.
- i) Region-wise composite index scores for the top five districts are listed below:
| Southern Region | Northern Region | ||||
| District | Scores | State Name | District | Scores | State Name |
| Kottayam | 0.64 | Kerala | Sahibzada Ajit Singh
Nagar |
0.63 | Punjab |
| Kanyakumari | 0.63 | Tamil Nadu | Kangra | 0.63 | Himachal Pradesh |
| Ernakulam | 0.63 | Kerala | Rupnagar | 0.63 | Punjab |
| Pathanamthitta | 0.63 | Kerala | Jammu | 0.63 | Jammu and Kashmir (UT) |
| Krishnagiri | 0.62 | Tamil Nadu | Panchkula | 0.62 | Haryana |
| Eastern Region | Western Region | ||||
| District | Scores | State Name | District | Scores | State Name |
| South Andaman
|
0.58
|
Andaman and Nicobar Islands (UT) | North Goa | 0.62 | Goa |
| Darjeeling | 0.56 | West Bengal | Pune | 0.62 | Maharashtra |
| Haora | 0.55 | West Bengal | Sindhudurg | 0.62 | Maharashtra |
| Hugli | 0.55 | West Bengal | Amravati | 0.60 | Maharashtra |
| Nadia | 0.55 | West Bengal | Nagpur | 0.60 | Maharashtra |
| North Eastern Region | Central Region | ||||
| District | Scores | State Name | District | Scores | State Name |
| Kohima | 0.60 | Nagaland | Durg | 0.55 | Chhattisgarh |
| Kamrup Metropolitan | 0.59 | Assam | Bilaspur | 0.54 | Chhattisgarh |
| Phek | 0.59 | Nagaland | Indore | 0.54 | Madhya Pradesh |
| Wokha | 0.58 | Nagaland | Dhamtari | 0.54 | Chhattisgarh |
| Lower Subansiri | 0.58 | Arunachal Pradesh | Hoshangabad | 0.53 | Madhya Pradesh |
- ii) Region-wise composite index scores for the bottom five districts are listed below:
| Southern Region | Northern Region | ||||
| District | Scores | State Name | District | Scores | State Name |
| Adilabad | 0.54 | Telangana | Shrawasti | 0.38 | Uttar Pradesh |
| East Godavari | 0.54 | Andhra Pradesh | Bahraich | 0.42 | Uttar Pradesh |
| Raichur | 0.55 | Karnataka | Mewat | 0.44 | Haryana |
| Chikkaballapura | 0.55 | Karnataka | Sitapur | 0.46 | Uttar Pradesh |
| Bijapur | 0.55 | Karnataka | Shahjahanpur | 0.46 | Uttar Pradesh |
| Eastern Region | Western Region | ||||
| District | Scores | State Name | District | Scores | State Name |
| Malkangiri | 0.39 | Odisha | Alirajpur | 0.41 | Madhya Pradesh |
| Nabarangapur | 0.41 | Odisha | Jhabua | 0.42 | Madhya Pradesh |
| Pakur | 0.43 | Jharkhand | East Nimar | 0.48 | Madhya Pradesh |
| Sheohar | 0.43 | Bihar | Burhanpur | 0.48 | Madhya Pradesh |
| Sitamarhi | 0.43 | Bihar | Daman | 0.48 | Daman and Diu (UT) |
| North Eastern Region | Central Region | ||||
| District | Scores | State Name | District | Scores | State Name |
| West Khasi Hills | 0.45 | Meghalaya | Alirajpur | 0.41 | Madhya Pradesh |
| Jaintia Hills | 0.47 | Meghalaya | Jhabua | 0.42 | Madhya Pradesh |
| Cachar | 0.47 | Assam | Barwani | 0.43 | Madhya Pradesh |
| East Garo Hills | 0.48 | Meghalaya | Dakshin Bastar
Dantewada |
0.45 | Chhattisgarh |
| Tirap | 0.48 | Arunachal Pradesh | Tikamgarh | 0.45 | Madhya Pradesh |
Jyothi Shukla, Lecturer- University of Melbourne presented the report findings and said that “The data analysis exercise has brought to the fore compelling insights on Child Well-Being in India. The report opens avenues to improve comparative data covering different regions, states and districts. The next significant step would be to mine insights from the Index Report and work on improving grassroots infrastructure for the wellness of India’s children”.
World Vision India and its partners hope that this report will serve as an important tool for decision-makers to initiate demand-driven policy changes at the country and state level. The report is expected to enable the country to take a closer look at the district- level and identify the direct and indirect factors affecting the Well-Being of Children and implement appropriate interventions. The report is also expected to initiate dialogues on the Well-Being of Children and help create a more nurturing childhood for India’s children.
