Economic Survey of Maharashtra State 2006-07, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Planning Department, GoM, Mumbai

The GSDP for the State at constant (1999-2000) prices is expected to grow at robust rate of 9.3 percent during 2006-07, as against 9.2 percent in 2005-06.

Social Sectors

During the year 2005-06, under the Sarva Shikshan Mohim (this is what SSA is called in Maharashtra State), provision of Rs 876.51 crore was made and expenditure of Rs 604.59 crore was incurred.

The total State expenditure on primary, secondary and higher secondary expenditure for the year 2005-06 was Rs 9074 crore, which was 2.1 percent of GSDP.

Under the School Health Programme, an expenditure of Rs 3.73 crore is expected under this scheme during 2006-07.

Fast increasing population and the constant influx of single male migrants to Mumbai city have resulted HIV/AIDS as one of the most important health problems.

During 2005-06, the number of beneficiaries covered under the ICDS programme in urban area was 2.76 lakh including the children in the age group 0-6 years, pregnant women and nursing mothers and expenditure of Rs 21.06 crore was incurred thereon.

2002-07: Xth Five Year Plan

2007-13: National AIDS Control Program, Phase III

The National Mental Health Programme is set for expansion during the XI Five Year Plan period with a proposed outlay of over Rs.1,000 crore. The programme, which focuses on community-based treatment for mentally ill patients, also envisages mental health care right up to the district level and strengthening of the existing psychiatric infrastructure. The proposal for the ambitious programme now awaits Union Cabinet approval. Strengthening of existing psychiatric infrastructure includes upgrading of psychiatric wings of the Government Medical Colleges, General Hospitals and modernization of existing State-run mental hospitals.

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  Prevent infections through saturation of coverage of high-risk groups with targeted interventions (TIs) and scaled up interventions in the general population.
  
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  Provide greater care, support and treatment to larger number of PLHA.
  
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  Strengthen the infrastructure, systems and human resources in prevention, care, support and treatment programmes at district, state and national levels.
  
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  Strengthen the nationwide Strategic Information Management System.
  

State Governments, Union Territory Administrations, Local Bodies, Educational Institutions and Voluntary Organisations are eligible for financial assistance under   this programme.  Upto 90% of the cost of the project is provided by the Government of India and remaining has to be borne by the Organisation/Institution concerned.  Under the programme, no predefined cost heads are stipulated.  Depending upon the type of activity and the nature of service, an appropriate amount not exceeding Rs. 1.5 million per annum can be sanctioned as recurring cost for each project.  The grant under the programme is released to selected organizations in two equal half yearly installments.

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  The programme component of a project under this scheme can be:-
  
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  City level surveys;
  
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   Documentation of existing facilities and preparation of city level plan of action;
  
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  Contact programmes offering counseling, guildance and referral services;
  
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  Establishment of 24 hours drop-in shelters;
  
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  Non-formal education programmes;
  
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  Programmes for reintegration of children with their families and placement of destitute children in foster care homes/hostels and residential schools;
  
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  Programmes for enrollment in schools;
  
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  Programme for vocational training;
  
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  Programmes for occupational placement;
  
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  Programmes for mobilizing preventive health services;
  
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  Programmes aimed at reducing the incidence of drug and substance abuse, HIV/AIDS etc;
  
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  Post ICDS/Aganwadi programmes for children beyond six years of age;
  
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  Programmes for capacity building and for advocacy and awareness building on child rights
  

• Transport subsidy up to a maximum Rs.50 per Quintal for movement of foodgrains from the nearest Food Corporation of India depot to schools. (This was subsequently increased to Rs. 75 per quintal).

• Food-grain (wheat or rice), supplied through Food Corporation of India, the cost of which is reimbursed at Below Poverty Line (BPL) rate.
Implementation of the Scheme in Mumbai
The Mid Day meals scheme has been operational in the state of Maharsahtra since

1995-96. The Municipal council of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) was entrusted with implementing the scheme in the metropolitan area of Mumbai in 1999-2000. Till

November, 2002 the corporation distributed 3 kg of dry rice per student per month to the students of classes I to V who have an attendance of more than 80 %. The distribution of meals in Government schools was to be monitored by the Corporation while that in the Government-aided schools was to be overseen by the trustee or the director of the school. The Corporation would only be concerned with providing the foodgrains to the aided schools. After the Supreme Court order MCGM started distribution of cooked meals in municipal schools. According to the MCGM document Yojana Swaroop, it has given permits to 244 Mahila sansthan (Women’s organizations) and one Self-help group (ISKCON) to supply mid day meals across municipal primary schools and in class V of the Municipal secondary schools. It specifies the following about the scheme in the next year (2005-06):
• The quantity of food to be provided per student per day will now be 150 grams

• On one specified day on the week, the student would be given an option of either an egg, a banana or 4 biscuits from any ISI approved biscuit company.

• A special attempt would be made to use soyabean and other protein enriched foods.

• The conversion cost (recurrent costs like: cost of ingreditents, fees to the cooks etc.) was fixed at Rs.1.25 per student per day.

• Tuesday/Thursday – Khichdi (using any one of moong, masur dal with rice)

• Wednesday/Saturday-Curry (with green leafy vegetables, methi, palak, aloo any one)

• Every Wednesday as mentioned earlier the option of choosing between egg, banana or biscuits.

(2) Micronutrient supplementation: All mid-day meal programmes should include a "micronutrient supplementation" component (as well as mass deworming if needed), to address common micronutrient deficiencies among children.

other supplies should be in place everywhere.

In 2007-08, Central Government has approved the inclusion of Inflation Adjusted Index (Consumer Price Index) for calculation of Central assistance towards cooking cost once every two years. This will be applicable from 2008-09 for primary and upper primary stages.

• Prevention of diseases

• Early diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of defects

• Awakening of health consciousness in children

• Provision of a healthy school environment
To achieve these objectives, the SHP provides a mix of health assessments, curative services, rehabilitation, follow-up, healthy child and school competitions, child to child/family/community programming, immunization, first aid and emergency care, statistics, training and other activities. These programs reach approximately 5 lakh children per year through Std. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9. The school health program is run jointly under the health department (which is responsible for administration) and the education department (which is responsible for logistics). Each year, the SHP plays a critical role in helping children access health care. Through parent/teacher/community meetings, the idea of community health is re-enforced in these children to underscore the important role everyone plays in a healthy community. Additionally, due to the nature of follow-up in the SHP, children are able to get treatment without creating a stressful situation in their family.
The program works in 7 school clinics at the government hospitals namely, Nair, Nair Dental, K.E.M., Sion, Cooper, Rajawadi, and Bhagwati hospitals. During 2003-2004, the SHP program has admitted between 41,980 and 35,991 children into these specialty clinics, respectively. The total amount spend on the medical inspection of children in municipal schools and the running of school clinics including salaries is Rs. 3,56,92,495 during the year 2004-05. The SHP has also been beneficial for the screening of TB and polio and picked up such rare conditions such as rheumatic and congenital heart disease and such illnesses.

National Initiative for Child Protection - The National Initiative for Child Protection (NICP) is a campaign initiated by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE) through the National Institute of Social Defence (NISD) and CHILDLINE India Foundation (CIF). The objective of NISD, a subordinate office under the administrative control of MSJE, is to strengthen and provide technical inputs to the Social Defence Programmes of Government of India. NICP aims at building partnerships with the Allied Systems for Child Protection and promotion of Child Rights. These Allied Systems are:

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  the police
  
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  the healthcare system
  
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  the judicial system especially
  
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  the education system
  
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  the transport system
  
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  the labour department
  
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  the media
  
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  the department of telecommunication
  
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  the corporate sector
  
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  the elected representatives
  
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  all of us
  

NICP’s strategies of translating plans into action

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  Greater access to services such as healthcare, education, justice, etc
  
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  Development of specialised services wherever needed
  
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  Allocation of resources including time, attention, money, infrastructure, etc
  
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  Attitudinal change from seeing the child “in need of care” as a problem of “a failure” on the part of the system
  

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  Recognise the rights of children to education, to be achieved on the basis of equal opportunities.
  
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  Make primary education compulsory and freely available to all.
  
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  Make secondary and higher education accessible for all children.
  
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  Make educational and vocational information and guidance available and accessible for all.
  
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  Take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and reduce dropout rates.
  

Many policies, plans, legal judgments and committees have made pronouncements on the education rights of the child:

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  In 1993, the Supreme Court clearly declared education to be a fundamental right, in Unnikrishnan vs State of Andhra Pradesh and others. It said: “Though the right to education is not stated expressly as a fundamental right, it is implicit in and flows from the right to life guaranteed under Article 21.”
  
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  The National Policy on Education, 1986, as revised in 1992, states: “Free and compulsory education of satisfactory quality should be provided to all children up to the age of 14 years, before the commencement of the 21st century.”
  
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  The National Plan of Action, 1992, lays down the following goals:
  
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  Universal enrolment of all children, including girls, using both full-time formal schools and part-time non-formal arrangements.
  
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  Reduction in dropout rates between Classes I-V and I-VIII, from the existing 45% and 60% respectively to 20% and 40% respectively.
  
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  Achievement of a minimum level of learning by approximately all children at the primary level, and introduction of this concept at the upper primary level on a large scale.
  
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  Reduction in disparities by emphasis on girls’ education and special measures for children belonging to scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) communities.
  
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  Universalisation of effective access to schooling.
  
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  Kothari Commission, 1966: “With regard to the proportion of national income devoted to education, we have assumed the highest rate of 6% because we should accord the highest priority to education and allocate the largest proportion of GNP to it.”
  
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  Acharya Ramamurthy Committee, 1990: “Public investment in education should exceed 6% of GNP.”
  
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  Central Advisory Board of Education, 1991: “The practice of treating education as a residual sector in the matter of allocating resources should be reversed.”
  
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  National Policy on Education, 1986, revised in 1992: “From the Eighth Plan onwards the outlay on education would uniformly exceed 6%.”
  
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  Saikia Committee, 1997: Reported an average expenditure per student in Classes I-VIII in 1995-96 to be Rs 948 per annum. It recommended an additional investment of Rs 40,000 crore in the next five years, to ensure education for all children out of school.
  
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  Tapas Majumdar Committee, 1999: Estimated a requirement of an additional Rs 136,000 crore over a period of 10 years ending 2007-2008.
  

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  All children in school, Education Guarantee Centre, Alternate School, ' Back-to-School' camp by 2003;
  
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  All children complete five years of primary schooling by 2007
  
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  All children complete eight years of elementary schooling by 2010  
  
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  Focus on elementary education of satisfactory quality with emphasis on education for life
  
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  Bridge all gender and social category gaps at primary stage by 2007 and at elementary education level by 2010
  
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  Universal retention by 2010  
  

This includes child labour, street children, juvenile offenders, children with disabilities, destitute children and child prostitutes.

Child Labour, Juvenile Delinquents, Children of Migrant Workers, Children with disabilities

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  Employers of children must pay compensation of Rs 20,000, according to the provisions of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, for every child employed.
  
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  The State shall have to provide employment to an adult in the family in lieu of the child working in a factory or any other hazardous work.
  
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  In the absence of alternative employment, the parent/guardian will be paid the income earned on the corpus fund, the suggested amount being fixed at Rs 25,000 for each child. The payment will cease if the child is not being sent for education. In case of non-hazardous employment, the employer will bear the cost of education.
  
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  The State’s contribution/grant is fixed at Rs 5,000 for each child employed in a factory or mine or any other hazardous employment.
  

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  No juvenile (child under the age of 16 for boys; under the age of 18 for girls) must be lodged in jail or police lockup under any circumstances.
  
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  No child can be sentenced to imprisonment.
  

The Department of Women and Child’s National Creche Fund, set up in 1994, provides assistance to voluntary organisations to set up creches for the children of working mothers.

The Union government has set up a Central Advisory Board to frame a plan of action for the rescue and rehabilitation of child prostitutes.

The following Acts have been enacted to address the special needs of the disabled:

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  Persons with Disability (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995
  
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  Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992
  
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  National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999
  

The UPA government will raise public spending on health to at least 2-3% of GDP over the next five years with focus on primary health care. A national scheme for health insurance for poor families will be introduced. The UPA will step up public investment in programmes to control all communicable diseases and also provide leadership to the national AIDS control effort. The UPA government will take all steps to ensure availability of life-savings drugs at reasonable prices. Special attention will be paid to the poorer sections in the matter of health care.

The UPA government will strengthen the public distribution system (PDS) particularly in the poorest and backward blocks of the country and also involve women’s and ex-servicemen’s cooperatives in its management. Special schemes to reach foodgrains to the most destitute and infirm will be launched.