1. POWER CRISIS IN INDIA

A large section of rural households in India (43.24 % i.e. 7.2 crore households & 30 crore population) still depend on kerosene as their main/only source of lighting. Majority of these households belong to villages which are technically electrified.

There are millions of school-going children living in semi-rural and rural areas, who don’t have access to a clean and safe light which can help them study after sundown.

Summary : Households with kerosene as the only/ main source

of Lighting

Country/States Households(Crore)

Households(%)

India 7.3 43. 24%Orissa > 2 63 %West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Bihar

5.4 58 % - 89%

Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh 1.2 27 % - 41 %

Problems Faced

1. Extensive use of kerosene lamps/candles: Majority of households depend on kerosene for lighting and the children study using these lamps which provide very dim and insufficient light in terms of illumination. The lamps put strain on the children’s eyes, emit smoke and give the children eye problems.

2. Increasing Poverty: A rural household in India spends a substantial part of their income on kerosene fuel for lighting. The average monthly household expenditure on kerosene is as high as Rs. 100 per lamp (Rs. 1200/yr). The fuel prices are increasing and are available mainly in black market at a much

higher price.3. Health Hazards: As the children are regularly exposed to kerosene lamps, the soot and toxic fumes

emitted cause health problems like irritation in the eyes, severe respiratory illness (lung and throat cancers) and cataract to name a few.

4. Fires & Burns: The number of victims of fire accidents and burn injuries due to use of kerosene lamps run into millions in India.

5. Government Expenditure: Government provides kerosene by importing oil which drains valuable hard currency. The escalating costs of providing fuel drain money away from primary needs like food, health services, housing, drinking water etc.

6. Environmental Degradation: Burning of billions of liter of fossil fuels increase global warming. It’s also reducing the available fossil fuel on the planet.

43%57%

Percentage of Kerosene Lit Rural Households in India

Percentage of Kerosene lit Rural HH% of HH using electricity & other sources

Map of Percentage of Households in India with

Kerosene as Main / Only Source of Lighting

Sr. No

States & UTs No. of Kerosene Lit Rural Households

Approx. Affected Population

(Crore)1 Uttar Pradesh 19111021 11.602 Bihar 14963756 8.223 West Bengal 7927731 3.614 Orissa 5113827 2.205 Madhya Pradesh 4546696 2.216 Assam 3782653 1.857 Rajasthan 3729431 2.038 Jharkhand 3113279 1.669 Maharashtra 3107049 1.47

10 Andhra Pradesh 1450876 0.5811 Chattisgarh 1235592 0.5612 Karnataka 965641 0.4513 Gujarat 869255 0.4314 Tamil Nadu 791493 0.31

15 Haryana 335860 0.1816 Uttarakhand 204149 0.10

STATE WISE SUMMARY OF KEROSENE LIT RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN INDIASr. No

States &UTs Total no. of Households

Total no. of Rural

Households

Percentage of Rural

Households

No. of Kerosene Lit Rural

Households

Percentage of Kerosene Lit

Rural Households

India1 Bihar 18940629 16926958 89.4 14963756 88.42 Uttar Pradesh 32924266 25475071 77.4 19111021 75.03 Assam 6367295 5374553 84.4 3782653 70.44 Jharkhand 6181607 4685965 75.8 3113279 66.45 Orissa 9661085 8144012 84.3 5113827 62.86 West Bengal 20067299 13717186 68.4 7927731 57.87 Meghalaya 538299 422197 78.43 193949 45.948 Madhya Pradesh 14967597 11122365 74.3 4546696 40.99 Rajasthan 12581303 9490363 75.4 3729431 39.3

10 Tripura 842781 607779 72.12 228953 37.6711 Manipur 507152 335752 66.20 108164 32.2212 Chhattisgarh 5622850 4384112 77.97 1235592 28.1813 Mizoram 221077 104874 47.44 28159 26.8514 Maharashtra 23830580 13016652 54.62 3446376 26.4815 Arunachal Pradesh 261614 195723 74.81 46175 23.5916 Nagaland 399965 284911 71.23 60106 21.1017 Andaman & Nicobar 93376 59030 63.22 11393 19.3018 Uttarakhand 1997068 1404845 70.35 204149 14.5319 Gujarat 12181718 6765403 55.54 869255 12.8520 Jammu & Kashmir 2015088 1497920 74.34 189124 12.6321 Karnataka 13179911 7864196 59.67 965641 12.2822 Haryana 4717954 2966053 62.87 335860 11.3223 Andhra Pradesh 21024534 14246309 67.76 1450876 10.1824 Sikkim 128131 92370 72.09 8075 8.7425 Tamil Nadu 18493003 9563899 51.72 791493 8.2826 Dadra & Nagar Haveli 73063 35408 48.46 2697 7.6227 Kerela 7716370 4095674 53.08 304225 7.4328 Pondicherry 301276 95133 31.58 3387 3.5629 Goa 322813 124674 38.62 4287 3.4430 Himachal Pradesh 1476581 1310538 88.75 38895 2.9731 Punjab 5409699 3315632 61.29 96196 2.9032 Chandigarh 235061 6785 2.89 162 2.3933 Daman & Diu 60381 12750 21.12 185 1.45

34 NCT of Delhi 3340538 79115 2.37 1136 1.44

2. STATE OF GIRL CHILD IN INDIA

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) named India as the most dangerous place in the world for a girl child in 2012. The female infant mortality rate in India is 97 for every 100 male infant deaths as compared to 122 male infant deaths for every 100 female infant deaths in the developing world as a whole. An Indian girl child aged 1- 5 years is 75% more likely to die than an Indian boy, making this the worst gender differential in child mortality for any country in the world.

In India amidst the uproar for gender sensitization and gender equality, the never ending pathos of girl child is still very much a deep concern. Their plight could be traced through various manifestations like the declining sex-ratio, social stigma, child marriage, child marriage, and child labor. The preference for male child is amongst the many disillusioned factors that are commonly prevalent amongst the poor, uneducated people from rural areas, which discourage families to have girl children. Male child is seen as bread winners or carrier of generations, whereas women are seen as vulnerable and a cost, emotional and pecuniary both to the families.

A long and sustained crusade against discrimination and simultaneous upliftment of the girl child through education, awareness and better opportunities for living is the need of the hour.

STATE OF GIRL CHILD IN INDIA

Child Sex Ratio (no. of females per 1000 males in the age group of 0 – 6 yrs) : 919

More than 50% of girls fail to enroll in school; those that do are likely to drop out by the age of 12.

Dropout rates increase alarmingly in class III to V, its 58% for girls.

53% of girls in the age group of 5 to 9 years are illiterate.

Average enrolment rate of girls aged 14-18 is only 36.77%.

61.5% of girls drop out of school before completing class XII.

Amongst married women in India today, 75% were under age at the time of their marriages

India accounts for the termination of some 1 crore female fetuses over the past 20 years.

Of the 12 million girls born in India, 1 million do not see their 1st birthday and 3 million do not see

their 15th birthday

Every sixth girl child's death is due to gender discrimination.

Female mortality exceeds male mortality in 224 out of 402 districts in India.

1 out of 4 girls is sexually abused before the age of 4.

More than 100 million girl children between the ages of 5 and 17 are engaged in child labour

Death rate among girls below the age of 4 years is higher than that of boys. Even if she escapes infanticide or foeticide, a girl child is less likely to receive immunization, nutrition or medical treatment compared to a male child.

There are approximately 2 million child commercial sex workers between the age of 5 and 15 years and about 3.3 million between 15 and 18 years; forming 40% of the total population of

commercial sex workers in India; 71% of them are illiterate; 500,000 children are forced into this trade every year.

3. REFERENCES

1. Houselisting and Housing Census Data Tables - District Level, http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/hlo/District_Tables/HLO_District_Tables.html

2. India: Source of lighting: http://www.devinfolive.info/censusinfodashboard/website/index.php/pages/source_lighting/total/kerosene/IND

2. Statistics of Underprivileged Children in Indiahttp://america.cry.org/site/know_us/cry_america_and_child_rights/statistics_underprivileged_chi.html

4. Situation of Girl Child in India http://www.betifoundation.org/situation-of-girl-child-in-india

5. India deadliest place in world for girl childhttp://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-01/india/31012468_1_child-mortality-infant-mortality-infant-deaths

6. CHILD Protection & Child Rights » Vulnerable Children » Children's Issues » Girl Child http://www.childlineindia.org.in/girl-child-rights-protection.htm

7. Status of children in India http://infochangeindia.org/agenda/child-rights-in-india/status-of-children-in-india.html