The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday released a policy aimed at ensuring the well-being of children, especially in several indices such as health, nutrition and access to school education.
The government said the Tamil Nadu State Policy for Children aims to “create a bright future for our children and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for them”.
“Even though Tamil Nadu performs better on several indices than the national average, the following are some of the issues that are preventable and need to be addressed by the Tamil Nadu government: Malnutrition, Anemia, Infant Mortality Rate, Less than 5 Deaths rate, child sex ratio, complete immunization, body mass index, gross enrollment ratio at higher and higher secondary level, open defecation, etc.,” the document stated.
Chief Minister MK Stalin released the policy document at a function held at the Secretariat, a statement said. The objective of the Policy for Children is to set standards at par with international standards on all indicators.
The document forms the guiding principles based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), 1989, the National Policy for Children, 2013, the National Action Plan 2016 and the United Nations document ‘Transforming our world, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’. ,
The policy will focus on aspects such as major health interventions and investments in the first 1,000 days of children; Addressing the determinants of feticide, child mortality and morbidity; take measures to help people make informed decisions about birth; strengthen the public health system; and ensuring access to nutrition, safe institutional delivery and child care.
The policy also includes a number of measures to provide access to learning and remove barriers to education such as gender and social exclusion, child marriage, child labour, gender and social exclusion.
legacy of social welfare investment
Known for pioneering the mid-day meal scheme – which was later adopted by other states over the past four decades – Tamil Nadu also has one of the lowest infant and neonatal mortality rates and the prevalence of stunting. It also has the highest primary school enrollment rate in India. The latest policy for children is in line with the state’s track record of investing in social welfare systems.
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