Child Welfare in India

India with 1.21 billion people constitutes as the second most populous country in the world, while children represent 39% of total population of the country. The figures show that the larger number of about 29% constitutes children in the age between 0-5 years.

The future of India lies in its young population. But what is our country doing to improve the overall conditions of the children? Although, a very powerful resource of India is its population, this resource has not been explored to the fullest. Children in many areas do not get access to basic healthy living conditions. Education for many children is as good as a luxury. Few of them are not even treated well at home and most of them resort to acts of theft, begging or child labor.

 To improve the conditions of children there are various child welfare programmes like Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Pulse Polio Immunization Programme, Elimination of Child Labor, Integrated Child Development Services, etc. An NGO named Child Rights and You (CRY), works towards safeguarding the rights of children. 

Lakshyam has recognized the issues faced by children and stared a child welfare program named Butterfly- Child Welfare and Education. The wings of the butterfly symbolize freedom. Lakshyam aims to provide a holistic education which will result in an all round development of the children.  Due to a lack of formal education, children at Lakshyam are taught many subjects like Hindi, English, Computer Science and Math. Lakshyam’s remedial center provides free of cost tutorials for children who face issues in any subjects at school. Many recreational activities like dance competitions, painting, puppet shows, magic shows, etc are organised for the children. They organise computer learning classes by IIT students and also, summer camps for children.  The other program for children is Toy Library that aims to bring back the essence of childhood.  Many children have missed out on having a playful childhood and Lakshyam aims to fill that gap between a child and his childhood through this program. People donate toys and books to this Toy Library which is accessed by kids to play, read and have a fun time.

Lakshyam has changed and improved the lives of many children. Lakshyam aims to impact of the quality of the lives of as many children as possible. Lakshyam has also opened a computer center in the Mahilong village, Jharkhand. There are two computers at this center which will help in enhancing the teaching process in the village. There are around 260 children who are benefitting from the programs at Lakshyam including children from areas like Vasant Kunj, Kurukshetra and Ghaziabad.