HYDERABAD: Budget allocated for children’s protection in Telangana State is only 0.05 per cent of the total amount.
“I fail to find words to describe the level of importance given to child protection in our state. There are schemes for child trafficking, prevention of child trafficking and also for the Integrated Child Protection but the amount allocated to take care of these schemes is nothing. It is only enough to pay the salaries of those appointed there,” said Ajay Sinha, director of policy and research, Forum for Learning and Action with Innovation and Rigour (FLAIR).
Ajay Sinha was speaking at the consultation ‘Ambition 2030, - Reaching every last child in Telangana’ by Save The Children where a number of harsh facts regarding the status of children in the state and the ways in which these gaps can be bridged were discussed.
The session was conducted to mark one year of the resolution - 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) spearheaded by the United Nations that was taken in September 2015 globally.
Pointing to the most important SDGs with regard to children, Sinha said achieving food security and ending hunger, promotion of well being of the children, inclusive and equitable education and gender equality are the issues that need to be addressed.
In sync with these global goals, Save The Children’s campaign - Every Last Child, has been designed to reach out to three lakh children in the next three years.
“The idea is to achieve the larger goal by 2030 by breaking it down to smaller ones. Our definition of the last child is that one who is deprived of his or her basic rights. For example, those five or six children living in a Chenchu habitat who need an anganwadi centre or an Integrated Child Development Scheme. The idea is to provide reach to that last child,” said Alka Singh, general manager, Telangana for Save The Children.