There stands no denial to the fact that Covid has managed to affect the lives
of every living person across the world. In ways both small and unimaginably
large, these experiences have set long lasting effects on people and changed
our perception towards so many things.
This deadly virus has infected people across all groups. From infants to
elderly, we have all experienced its terrible wrath. While the ratio of infected in
each of these groups remains unequal, the virus has globally hit more adults
than children.
The number of children infected stays lesser but nothing implies that the virus
has not affected their lives just as much. While the spectrum of ways it has
touched the lives of these children is vast and wide, we are narrowing it down
to our future, the children of India.
Among all the groups that have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic,
children remain one of the worst-hit groups. From extremely poor living
conditions to psychological problems, the virus has severely affected the most
innocent.
To be home to a population of which over 115 million live in extreme poverty,
the pandemic has acted as a catalyst to push even more people into poverty,
including children. Sudarshan, CEO of Save The Children, a non-
governmental organisation working towards the betterment of children, has
stated, “As the crisis in India continues to spiral out of control, its impact on
children is growing ever more serious. The surge in covid-19 infections is
forcing strict lockdown measures that have left many families without a source
of income, pulling millions of children below the poverty line , and the poorest
into even deeper poverty. Lockdowns are necessary to control the spread of
the virus, but there are unavoidable consequences to the control measures,
which will have lasting impacts on children and families.” He also believes that
the pandemic has reversed much of the progress India has made in reducing
poverty and, as is too often the case, it is the poorest and most marginalised
children who have been hardest hit.
A study by International Labour Organisation (ILO) warned that by the end of
the year 2022 approximately 9 million children are at a risk of being pushed
into child labour. Another study conducted by Campaign against Child Labour
suggests that there has been a significant increase in the proportion of
working children from 28.2% to 79.6% out of the 818 children who were
surveyed mainly because of the pandemic and eventually the closure of
schools.
About 1.5 million schools in India have shut down owing to the pandemic. This
eventually has forced children to drop out of school and push them into the
dark cycle of child labour as a matter of survival. Children’s access to
education, basic nutrition, and other critical requirements for their
development and well-being has suffered a huge setback. Due to which,
several children have fallen into the trap of forced labour along with further
deteriorated conditions for the existing child labourers.
With children staying out of school, abuse in all forms has massively
increased. The second wave of Covid-19 in India has meant that its 42.4 crore
children (aged 0-17 years) continue to be vulnerable to the virus.Many
children have been orphaned or have lost their primary caregivers. Experts
say the country needs a nationwide campaign to protect its children from the
economic and social consequences of the lockdowns and loss of caregivers.
Grief, social isolation, multiple hours of screen timings, and fear have all
negatively affected children’s mental health. During childhood, especially
adolescence, friendships and bonding between families prove to be a strong
stabilizing support for children but the pandemic has disrupted that.
It is saddening and unfortunate that the very future of the nation that everyone
looks forward to hasn’t been spoken about enough in response to the
catastrophe.
Comentarios