LAHORE: Allocation for child-focused health, education and social welfare is just 0.75 per cent of Punjab’s gross domestic product (GDP), says a child rights body

“Punjab has allocated 0.66 per cent of the GDP for child-focused education, 0.11 per cent on healthcare, and 0.04 per cent on social welfare,” says a report of the Child Rights Movement, Punjab.

The report -- Budget analysis from child rights perspective in Punjab fiscal years 2013-14 and 2014-15 -- says 14 per cent schools in Punjab lack basic infrastructure like toilets and drinking water.

The situation on basic healthcare for children paints an equally dismal picture. Report states that infant mortality rate in Punjab is 77 per 1000 children, while maternal mortality rate is 300 per 100,000 births. For a population of around 90 million and a birth rate of 4.7 per cent, there are only 151 hospitals, 194 dispensaries, 293 rural health centers and 2,461 basic health units with a total capacity of 37,272 beds. Though the budget for health sector since 2009-10 has been doubled, in proportion to the total budget of Punjab it has decreased from eight per cent to 5.4 per cent.

Punjab spends around 100 billion on health, education and social sectors, however, this also includes adolescents and youth, and thus child specific budget is more decreased. This situation shows that children are not priority for the government and, in fact, a bright and prosperous future cannot be achieved without spending on protection and prosperity of children, the report says.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2015

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