New Delhi: It's Children's Day Saturday. However, a bulk of the country's kids don't have much reason to celebrate, as they struggle everyday against vices like child labour, sex selection and malnutrition, and education is still a far-fetched dream for many, say civil society representatives.

According to Action Aid, an international charity, almost half of India's children are underfed.

Quoting the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2006, Babu Matthew of Action Aid said 46 percent children under the age of three are underweight. Also, 70 percent of all Indian children under five are anaemic.

Drawing up a report card on the status of children in India, Save the Children, another international charity, said that India scores a dismal two out of 10 on the parameter of health.

Ananthapriya Subramanian of Save the Children said, "Article 6 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) specifically states that member states must recognize every child's inherent right to life. Yet in India two million children below the age of five die every year from preventable and treatable diseases."

November 14 to 21 is being celebrated across the world as the UNCRC week, however India does not have much reason to join in the celebrations, she said.

"Over four lakh (400,000) children die within the first 24 hours of life every year in India. Despite a decade of rapid economic growth, India's record on child mortality at 72 per 1,000 live births is worse than that of neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh," she added.

India accounts for one-fifth of newborn deaths and ranks 171 out of 175 countries in the world in public health spending, Subramanian added.

On the issue of child labour - a glaring, everyday truth that probably every Indian witnesses despite a law banning it - civil society said that much needs to be done by the government to make laws more stringent and implement them.

Kailash Satyarthi of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan, a child rights organisation, said, "India has reasonably good laws, but they are seldom enforced. Laws are a very good start - but if the country is to take its place as a true global power, it cannot afford to be weighed down by millions of uneducated young people."

Although the Indian government says that there are 13 million children below 14 are engaged in some form of work, the civil society puts the number at a much higher 60 million.

The Save the Children report card, while giving a two out of 10 on the status of child labour said, "Though the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act bans child labour, it does so only those categories of work that it deems 'hazardous'. This is unacceptable as all forms of child labour are a violation of children's rights."

On education, it further said, "By government estimates, seven million children are still out of school in a country where education is a fundamental right. These tend to be the most socially excluded groups such as disabled children, children of migrants, and street and working children."

"Our schools and education system therefore needs to be made inclusive and relevant to the most marginalised and underprivileged children in society and quality of education improved to meet diverse needs," it added. IANS