National

'Allocation for children's development inadequate'

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 1. Child Relief and You (CRY), a non-governmental organisation working for underprivileged children, has said the Government's commitment to improve the condition of children was not reflected in the budget. ``The annual budget is an opportunity for the Government to match its rhetoric with adequate allocations for children's development. That has not happened again,'' Ila Hukku, Director, CRY, said in a statement here today.

The Government had announced measures such as creation of Shiksha Kosh, a non-lapsable fund for primary education; increasing number of schools in minority areas and expansion of the Integrated Child Development Scheme. ``These are schemes and proposals operational for years. There appears to be a dearth of ideas on how the Government should address the educational needs of facilities at this time, nor is there a plan on how to improve the quality of the education being provided,'' she said.

'Below target'

The common minimum programme had called for 6 per cent allocation for education. Though the allocation had been increased, it was still well below the target and the Government's commitment to education was inadequate, the statement said.

Similarly, CRY believed that the increased allocation to health sector was also inadequate. Also, the missing links were the details of how the allocation would be spent, especially on child health.

This needed to be clarified with in a scenario when there had been an increased reportage of malnutrition deaths.

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