Poverty means not having enough money; whereas deprivation refers to a lack of resources and opportunities. Unemployment, lack of qualifications, debt, crime and other social factors all indirectly affect the health of the population. Increased deprivation means poor health of population. Poverty is a condition in which a person lacks the financial resources for basic human needs to be met. People suffering from poverty lack access to healthy food, clean water, proper housing and medical attention.

Access to reports; good schools, safe water and other services remain elusive for the poor. It is a difficult cycle to break and is often passed from generation to generation. Increased poverty is likely to cause tension in society, increase in inequality, increase in crime rates. The children who grow up in this state always suffer from frequent health problems while infants have high chances of a low birth weight. India is the second most populous country after China and majority of the people are still living in abject poverty. More than 800 million people are considered poor. Most of them live without sufficient and clean drinking water supply, without garbage disposal, without electricity and due to poor hygiene condition, they suffer from many diseases such as cholera, typhoid etc.

In India poverty impacts children’s families and individuals in various ways. A high infant mortality rate, malnutrition, child labour, lack of education (the number of children excluded from school is higher among girls than that of boys), child marriage and through many more various ways. Poverty is also one of theextreme reasons that force many parents towards an early marriage of their daughters in hope of better lives for them. Children’s experience of poverty can lead to bullying and exclusion of feelings, as they have fewer friends and engage in less social activities. Nearly 47.9% of Indian households have more than five children and are severely deprived of basic necessities and shelter. Poverty adversely affects the well being of our society as well as our Nation. It increases the level of deprivation in India is often linked with caste and religion. Deprivation amongst Muslims is greater in comparison with other religions. Backward classes suffer more than the general class. There is always a nexus between poverty and deprivation. In India, these states have the following list of highest poverty rates: Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Bihar(33% of population is living below poverty line).

The only possible solution of the problem is that the government must come up with an effective scheme through which children and their families became primary beneficiaries of this social welfare and can get easier access to it. Bihar has come up with a cycle program in which the government has aimed to improve school access and to reduce the gender gap in schoolsby providing girls with bicycles on completing class 9th. Many states also come up with midday meals to increase school enrollment and increase daily calorie intake, level of protein. Many self-help groups are working on a ground level to provide sanitation and disseminate information about the government programme to reduce childhood deprivation.

Priya Singh @Samacharline