Representative image for child marriage.
Credit: Pixabay Photo
Bengaluru: Bengaluru Urban district has failed when it comes to protection of child rights, reveals the Child Rights Index of Karnataka.
The report for 2023, released on Thursday, was a study conducted by S Madheswaran and B P Vani of Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) in collaboration with Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
It is based on child labour, child marriage, teenage pregnancy and crimes on children.
Bengaluru was unprotective of child rights, because of its urban nature, the report said.
Other districts with low performance when it comes to protection of child rights are Kolar, Vijayapura, Gadag and Belagavi. Districts like Kodagu and Udupi emerged safest for children.
The report was prepared considering six indicators: Right to life, right to enabling environment to live, right to nutrition, protection, education and participation.
Best performing districts without including the participation index (as it varies for urban and rural areas ) are Udupi, Mandya, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu and Bengaluru Rural.
Chikkamagaluru, Shivammoga, Mysuru, Hassan and Chamarajanagar districts are among the top 10. The bottom five districts are Kolar, Yadgir, Raichur, Ballari and Dharwad.
Crimes under POCSO Act are registered more in Belagavi, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Tumakuru, Bengaluru, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru and Chikkaballapur.
Bengaluru even topped when it comes to crimes against children followed by Mysuru, Mandya, Bengaluru Rural, Tumakuru, Belagavi, Dakshina Kannada, Chikkaballapur and Ramanagar. In Bengaluru, crime rate against children is eight times higher than other districts.
Yadgir, Gadag, Chitradurga, Davanagere and Chikkaballapur are among those having very low level of realisation with respect to right to education.
“Kalaburagi, Raichur and Haveri districts are classified as having low realisation and these districts must handle right to education more effectively,” reads the report.
In terms of right to nutrition, over 70% of children in seven districts, primarily in Kalyana Karnataka, suffer from anaemia.
The anaemia status in 14 districts is between 60% and 70%, while incidence of anaemia in the remaining 9 districts, primarily from Mysuru and partially from Bengaluru divisions, was between 50% and 60%.