Assam: Child Protection Factbook i © UNICEF 2017 Photos: © UNICEF,

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UNICEF, Office for Assam House No. – 27 Basisthapur Bylane 3, Beltola Road – 781 028 Assam Tel: +91 11 0361 – 2235151/53 Fax: +91 11 0361 - 2235161 Email: [email protected] http://unicef.in

State Child Protection Society, Assam (An Assam Government Organization under the Department of Social Welfare) 46, Survey Bus Stop, Beltola Road, Guwahati – 781 028, Assam Phone: +91-361-2229275/ 2265385 Assam: Child Protection Factbook Fax: +91-361-2229275 Email: [email protected] ii UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focussing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefi t of all children everywhere. Assam: Child Protection Factbook

iii Assam: Child Protection Factbook iv Contents

1) Acronyms vii

2) Sources of Data 1

3) Profile of Assam 3

4) Child Workers 7 • State Profi le of Child Workers 8 • District Profi le of Child Workers 9 • Child Workers (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) 13

5) Out-of-School Children 15 • State Profi le of Out-of-School Children 16 • District Profi le of Out-of-School Children 17 • Drop-out Rate of School Children 18

6) Crimes Against Children 23 • Cases of Crimes Against Children 24 • Child Traffi cking 26 • Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 26

7) Missing Children 29

8) Competent Authorities Under Juvenile Justice Act 33 • Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) 34 • District Profi le 35 • Child Welfare Committee (CWC) 37

9) Children in Alternative Care 39 • Institutional Care 40 • Family-based Alternative Care 45

10) Accidental Deaths and Suicide among Children 47

11) Disability 51 • State Profi le 52 • District Profi le 53

12) Child Marriage 55

13) Teenage Pregnancy 57 • Pregnancy Among Adolescents 58 • Maternal Death 60

14) Birth Registration 61 • State Profi le 62 • District Profi le 63 v Assam: Child Protection Factbook vi Acronyms

ADSI – Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India

AHS – Annual Health Survey

CID – Crime Investigation Department

CRS – Civil Registration System

CWSN – Children with Special Needs

DISE - District Information System in Education

DLHS – District Level and Household & Facility Survey

IPC – Indian Penal Code

MCTS – Mother and Child Tracking System

MDR – Maternal Death Review

NCRB – National Crime Records Bureau

NHM – National Health Mission

NSSO – National Sample Survey Organization

PAP – Prospective Adoptive Parents

SCPS – State Child Protection Society

SRS – Sample Registration System

SSA – Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Acronyms

vii Assam: Child Protection Factbook viii Sources of Data

S. Source Description Chapters No of Data

1 Census The Census of India is a decennial demographic survey 3, 4, 5, 12 conducted by the Offi ce of the Registrar General of India (ORGI) and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA), , across the country. It generates data on population – size, growth, literacy, workers, marriage, migration – by different stratifi ers and household assets, etc. The child worker data is sourced from the worker data set as per the Census 2011.

2 Sarva The SSA is a fl agship scheme of the Government of India for 4, 5 Shiksha universalization of elementary education. The data on out-of- Abhiyan school children has been sourced from SSA report, 2013. (SSA)

3 National NSSO is the focal agency of the Ministry of Statistics and 4, 5 Sample Programme Implementation, Government of India for collection Survey of statistical data in the areas which are vital for developmental Organization planning. It conducts surveys on socio-economic conditions, (NSSO) demography, agriculture, health, industries, household consumption and expenditure, employment subjects, etc. on a regular basis.

4 U-District U-DISE is a database developed and managed by the NUEPA 4, 5, 12 Information and Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD). System for It gives information on school infrastructure, teachers and Education enrolment indicators. (DISE)

5 District Level DLHS is conducted by International Institute for Population 4, 5 Household Sciences under the aegis of Ministry of Health & Family and Facility Welfare, Government of India. It provides district level Survey estimates on various demographic and reproductive health, and (DLHS) infrastructure-related indicators.

6 National NCRB is an agency under the MoHA, Government of India and 6 Crime has a central responsibility of collection, collation and analysis Records of crime-related data. It publishes an annual crime report which Bureau includes extensive data on crime statistics of all states. (NCRB) Crime Sources of Data Report 1 7 Criminal The data on missing children has been derived from CID, 7 Investigation Assam, through SCPS, Assam. Dept. (CID)

8 State Child The SCPS has been set-up under the provisions of the 8, 9 Protection Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) with specifi c Society functions to implement the child protection legislation, (SCPS), schemes, JJ Act, etc. It maintains a database of all children in Assam institutional care and family-based alternative care on a periodic basis from which the data for the factsheet is sourced.

9 NCRB The NCRB ADSI report is an annual publication by NCRB that 10, 11 Accidental provides information on deaths due to accidents and suicides in Deaths and all states of India. Suicides in India (ADSI) report

10 Annual The AHS is an annual survey conducted by the ORGI in eight 13, 14, 15 Health EAG states for a 3-year period to monitor the outcome of Survey various health interventions of the government under NRHM, (AHS) MoHFW and provides data on core vital and health indicators at the district level.

11 Mother & The MCTS is a portal developed to track pregnant women and 14 Child mothers. The data on adolescent pregnant mothers cited in the Tracking factsheet has been derived from the MCTS, provided by System National Health Mission offi ce (NHM), Assam. (MCTS)

12 National The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is a large-scale, 13,14, 15 Family DHS-like survey conducted by IIPS under the aegis of MoHFW. Health It provides state and national estimates on fertility, infant and Survey child mortality, the practice of family planning, maternal and (NFHS) child health, reproductive health, nutrition, anaemia, utilization, and quality of health and family planning services.

13 Maternal The MDR provides information on maternal deaths and also 14 Death tracks data by age. The data on maternal deaths cited in the Review factsheet has been derived from MDR database of Assam. (MDR)

14 Civil The CRS report provides data on level of registration of births 15 Registration and deaths for all states and nationally, on annual basis, System published by ORGI. (CRS) report Assam: Child Protection Factbook Sources of Data

2 Profi le of Assam

• Assam, a land of diverse ethnicities and rich biodiversity, is one of the North- Eastern states of India and is bounded by , Nagaland, , , , , and Bhutan.

• Presently Assam has 32 districts; however, the demographic and other sectoral data of only 27 districts is available as the remaining 5 districts have been recently formed.

• The two river valleys of Brahmaputra and Barak separate the state into two distinct geographical regions.

• There are three Autonomous District Councils – Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council in Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao Autonomous Council in Dima Hasao and Bodoland Territorial Council covering Baksa, , Chirang and Udalguri in Assam, adhering to the constitutional provisions for upholding tribal autonomy in designated Sixth Schedule tribal areas of India. Data of

le of Assam le of Sources Profi

3 Demographic Profi le of Assam

Indicators Figures Source of data

Population density (per sq. km.) 397

Total population 31.2 million

Male population 15.9 million

Female population 15.2 million

Proportion of SC population (7.2)%

Proportion of ST population 12.4% Census 2011

Child population (0–18 years) / Proportion to total population 12.7 million

Literacy rate

1) Total 72.1%

2) Male 77.8%

3) Female 66.2%

Sex ratio 958

Sex ratio (0–6 years) 962

Sex ratio at birth 947 AHS (2012–2013)

Crude birth rate 22.4 SRS 2014, Statistical report

Crude death rate 7.2

Neonatal mortality rate (NMR) 26

Infant mortality rate (IMR) 48 NFHS 4 (2015–2016)

Under fi ve mortality rate (U5MR) 56 NFHS4 (2015–2016)

Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) 300 SRS 2013, Statistical report

Source: Census 2011

Age-group-wise distribution of child Male and female proportion of total child population in Assam population of Assam

20% 51% (2,519,724) 31% (3,937,549) (6,559,738) 49% (6,208,885)

Assam: Child Protection Factbook (0–5 years)

(6–14 years) Male 49% 4 (15–18 years) (6,311,350) Female

Source: Census 2011 Source: Census 2011 Age-group and sex-wise proportion of total child population in Assam

1190635

Female 3086627

1931623

1329089

Male 3224723

2005926

(15–18 years) (6–14 years) (0–5 years)

Source: Census 2011 District-wise Child Population (0–18 Years) of Assam

District Child Proportion District Child Proportion Population of total Population of total (0-18 years) population (0-18 years) population

Kokrajhar 375886 42% Karbi Anglong 423959 44%

Dhubri 908656 47% Dima Hasao 90507 42%

Goalpara 447785 44% Cachar 702824 40%

Barpeta 744293 44% 543598 44%

Morigaon 428837 45% Hailakandi 295058 45%

Nagaon 1230886 44% 311178 42%

Sonitpur 773847 40% Chirang 206002 43%

Lakhimpur 432060 41% Kamrup 581298 38%

Dhemaji 293144 43% Kamrup Metro 383900 31%

Tinsukia 522179 39% 283081 37%

Dibrugarh 484938 37% Baksa 369237 39%

Sivasagar 413162 36% Darrang 408040 44%

Jorhat 378970 35% Udalguri 329649 40% le of Assam le of

Golaghat 405649 38% Assam (Total) 12768623 41%

Source: Census 2011 Profi

5 Assam: Child Protection Factbook

6 Child Workers According to Census 2011 – ‘Work is defi ned as participation in any economically productive activity with or without compensation, wages or profi t. Such participation may be physical and/or mental in nature. All persons (irrespective of age and sex) who participated in any economically 7 productive activity for any length of time during the reference period are defi ned as workers.’ State Profi le of Child Workers

Number of child workers (5–14 years) Gender-wise percentage share of total in Assam child workers in Assam

Child population in Assam (5–14 yrs) 7,036,066 39% girls 61% boys

135,805 girl child workers in 211,548 Assam boy child workers in Child worker Assam population 347,353

Source: Census 2011 Source: Census 2011

5 in every 100 children between 5 and 14 years in Assam is a child worker.

Child workers over the years in Residence-wise percentage share of total Assam (in lakhs) child workers in Assam

3.513.51 7.9% Urban 3.473.47

92.1% 1.2 Rural

19911991 20012001 20112011 Assam: Child Protection Factbook

Source: Census 2011 Source: Census 2011 8 Age-group wise proportion of child Percentage of child workers (10–14 years) workers in Assam in Assam

7.9% 10% of boys or 1 in 10 boys 6.0% of girls or at least 1.9% 1 in 20 girls

(10–14 years) (5–9 years)

Source: Census 2011 Source: Census 2011

2.6% of the total workers in Assam are children (aged 5–14 years), i.e., 1 in 50 workers in Assam is a child (5–14 years).

District Profi le of Child Workers

District-wiseDistrict-wise proportion ofof child worker ooff the district-wise total cchildhild popupopulationlation ((5–145–14 yearsyears)) iinn AAssamssam

7.97.9

6.66.6 7.37.3 6.26.2 6.16.1 5.75.7 5.55.5 5.45.4 5.45.4 5.3 5.3 5.4 5 4.7 4.9 4.4 4.4 4.5 4.2 4.3 4.1 4.2 3.9 3.9 3.4 3.6 3.7 3.7 Baksa Nalbari Assam Cachar Chirang Kamrup Darrang Udalguri Sonitpur Kokrajhar Morigaon Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (M) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Source: Census 2011 Child Workers

9 District-wiseDistrict-wise percentagepercentage share ofof child workers (5–14 years) ofof the totatotall childchild worworkerskers ((5–145–14 yearsyears)) inin AAssamssam

9.59.5

8.7

6.2

5.7

4 4.3 4.2 3.7 3.8 3.7 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.4 3.4 3.3 3.2 3.2 3 2.9 2.8 2 2.2 1.7 1.8 1.7 0.6 Baksa Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Cachar Nagaon Chirang Barpeta Kamrup Darrang Tinsukia Dhemaji Udalguri Sonitpur Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Sivasagar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (M) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Source: Census 2011

Dhemaji district has the highest proportion of child labour among all districts in Assam while shares the highest number of child labour of the total child labour in Assam.

District-wise proportion of male child workers (5–14 years) of total male population (5–14 years) in Assam 9.5 8.3 7.8 7.5 7.5 6.8 6.8 6.7 6.4 6.2 6.2 6 5.8 6.1 5.8 5.8 6 5 5 5.2 5.2 4.8 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.6 4.5 4.8 Baksa Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Assam Cachar Nagaon Chirang Barpeta Kamrup Darrang Tinsukia Dhemaji Udalguri Sonitpur Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Sivasagar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (M) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Assam: Child Protection Factbook Source: Census 2011

10 District-wise percentage share of male child workers (5–14 years) of total male child workers (5–14 years) in Assam

10.9

10.1

5.8 5.5 4.8 4.2 4.2 3.6 3.5 3.7 3.6 3.3 3.2 2.9 2.9 3.2 3.1 3.1 3 3.1 2.1 2.1 2.4 1.8 1.7 1.7 0.5 Baksa Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Cachar Nagaon Chirang Barpeta Kamrup Darrang Tinsukia Dhemaji Udalguri Sonitpur Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Sivasagar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (M) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Source: Census 2011

Among the districts, Dhubri has both the highest proportion of male child workers (5–14 years) and the highest share of the total male child workers in the state.

District-wise proportion of female child workers ( 5–14 years) of total female population (5–14 years) in Assam

7.9 7.1

5.6 5.3 5 5 5 5.1 5.1 4.9 4.6 4.4 4.1 4.3 4.1 3.9 3.9 3.7 3.3 3.1 2.9 2.6 2.6 2.8 2.6 2.6 2.3 1.9 Baksa Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Assam Cachar Nagaon Chirang Barpeta Kamrup Darrang Tinsukia Dhemaji Udalguri Sonitpur Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Sivasagar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (M) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Source: Census 2011 Child Workers

11 District-wise percentage share of female child workers (5–14 years) of total female child workers (5–14 years) in Assam

7.3 6.9 6.6 5.9 5.3 4.7 4.4 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.1 4.2 3.7 3.8 3.7 3.3 2.8 2.9 2.9 2.5 2.3 2.3 2.1 1.5 1.4 1.6 0.7 Baksa Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Cachar Nagaon Chirang Barpeta Kamrup Darrang Tinsukia Dhemaji Udalguri Sonitpur Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Sivasagar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (M) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Source: Census 2011

Among the districts, Dhemaji has the highest proportion of female child workers (5–14 years) of total female child population and Dhubri holds the highest share of the total female child workers in the state.

Sectoral distribution of child labour in Assam

2%

Agriculture

11% 2% Mining and Quarry

Manufacturing

Construction

Trade, Hotel 8% 66% Others

11% Assam: Child Protection Factbook

12 Source: NSSO 2009–2010 Child Workers (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes)

12.4% of total child population are from ST 17.2% of total child workers population are from ST

4.9% 6.8% of total child population of total child are workers population are from SC 6% of total child workers population are from SC

Source: Census 2011 Child Workers

13 Assam: Child Protection Factbook

14 Out-of-School Children The Right To Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, refers to out-of-school children as those who have either not been admitted to any school or having been admitted have not completed elementary education and have dropped out. 15 State Profi le of Out-of-School Children

Proportion of out-of-school children in Assam (6–13 years) in 2014–2015

1.7%* (97,601) number of out-of-school children in Assam

44% (42,977) boys out-of-school in Assam 56% (54,524) girls out-of-school in Assam

Number of out-of-school children in Assam (6–13 years)

102518

97501

88516

2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 Assam: Child Protection Factbook

*calculated against Census 2011 projected population of 6–13 years for the year 2015 16 Source: SSA, Assam District Profi le of Out-of-School Children

District-wise total out-of-school children in Assam (2014)

8368 8189

6818 6071 6272 5684 5005 5146 4588 4455

3518 3467 2960 3186 2704 2898 2745 2464 1766 1509 1529 1700 1616 1099 1317 1271 1156 Baksa Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Cachar Chirang Nagaon Barpeta Darrang Tinsukia Udalguri Dhemaji Sonitpur Sibsagar Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (R) Kamrup (M) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Source: SSA, 2014

Dima Hasao district has the highest proportion of out-of-school children among all the districts in Assam, although the other districts are marginally more or less than its mark.

District-wise percentage share of out-of-school children against district-wise percentage share of total child population (6–13 years) in Assam*

10 9 88 7 66666 5 5 555 44 44 4 4 4 4 3 3 33 333333 3333 3 3 222 2 2222 22 11 1 11 Baksa Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Cachar Chirang Nagaon Barpeta Darrang Tinsukia Dhemaji Udalguri Sonitpur Sibsagar Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (R) Kamrup (M) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong Proportion of total population in Assam Percentage share of total out-of-school children

Source: SSA, Assam

* The graph shows the percentage share of out-of-school children of all districts against their respective proportion of Out-of-School Children children (6–13years) to total child population (6–13 years) of Assam.

Karimganj district has 4.4% of the total child population (6–13 years) in Assam but 17 contributes to 8.4% of the total out-of-school children (6–13 years) in Assam Drop-Out Rate of School Children

The average annual drop-out rate of schools, apart from being an indicator of universal elementary education attainment, also holds signifi cance with respect to child labour as the dropped-out children are a vulnerable cohort who could be introduced to child labour and might lose the opportunity of education in their life.

State Profi le of Average Annual Drop-Out Rate of School Children Drop-out rate in primary schools in 2014–2015

15.4%

Upper primary school Lower primary school

10.5% Source: U-DISE ‘School Education in India’ Report (2015–2016)

Average annual drop-out rate in Assam 15.4

10.5 10.4

9.7

7.4 7.3 7.1 6.3

2011–2012 2012–2013 2013–2014 2014–2015

Primary Upper primary

Source: U-DISE ‘School Education in India’ Assam: Child Protection Factbook

18 District Profi le of Drop-out Rate

Drop-out rate in lower primary schools in Assam

22.6

13.7 12.2 10.9 9.9 9.1 8.5 8.2 8.1 8.4 7.7 7.4 6.9 7.7 6.9 6.6 5.9 6.1 6.4 4.8 5.4 4.6 5 3.9 4.2 3.9 3.9 Baksa Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Cachar Assam Chirang Nagaon Barpeta Darrang Tinsukia Dhemaji Udalguri Sonitpur Sibsagar Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (R) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Source: U-DISE (2014–2015)

Drop-out rate in upper primary schools in Assam

20.5

17.6

14.1

11.1 11.1 9.6 9.1 7.7 8.01 8.4 7.9 6.6 7.05 6.4 6.5 6.5 5.9 5.9 4.8 5.03 3.8 3.8 3.9 2.6 1.9 1.1 Baksa Jorhat Dhubri Cachar Assam Chirang Nagaon Barpeta Darrang Tinsukia Dhemaji Udalguri Sonitpur Sibsagar Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (R) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Source: U-DISE (2014–2015)

Boys drop out more than girls in both primary and upper primary stage. had the highest drop-out rate in both lower primary and upper primary stage Out-of-School Children in schools of Assam in 2014–2015. 19 Reasons for Drop-out

Reasons for drop-out among male children under 18 years of age in Assam (2007–2008) 1 0.3 School too far 2.7 5 6.8 Transport not available 5.1 Further education not necessary

Required for household work

Required for work on family/business 17.9 Required for outside work 16.6 Cost too much

No proper school

4.8 Not safe to send girls For taking care of siblings 3.9 Not interested in studies

Repeated failures 19.3 16.3 Got married

Others

1.7

School too far 4.1 5.4 6.2 Transport not available

Further education not necessary 7.1 Required for household work

Required for work on family/business 5 20.7 Required for outside work

Cost too much

No proper school 10.8 Not safe to send girls

For taking care of siblings 9.9 1.8 Not interested in studies 4.7 Repeated failures 21.2

Got married 1.1

Others

0.4

Source: DLHS3 (2007–2008) Assam: Child Protection Factbook Child labour can be strongly linked with drop-out of students as can be seen from the above two pie-charts. 42% of boys and 32.4% of girls are seen to drop-out due 20 to work (household work, family work/business and outside work) Current activity of girls and boys after drop-out in lower primary and upper primary stage in Assam (2009–2010)

45.6 Girls 32.2

51.6

Upper primary Boys 40

Girls 26.5 54.7

Primary 34 Boys 42

Working to earn money Helping family in household work/agriculture

Source: SSA Report, 2013

In a nationwide SSA study of 2009–2010, 36.9% of boys and 28.9% of girls who dropped out of primary school in Assam cited family/domestic work as their reason. Of those children who dropped out in the upper primary stage in Assam, 48% boys and 38.5% girls cited family/domestic work as their reason. Out-of-School Children

21 Assam: Child Protection Factbook

22 Crimes Against Children

23 Cases of Crimes Against Children

Number of crime cases against children in Assam in 2015

3% percentage contribution to all-India total cases of crimes against children, i.e., 2,835 total cases of crimes against children registered in Assam Source: NCRB Crime Report 2015

Cases of crime committed against children in Assam in 2015

1303

731

383

132 66 83 4 5 9 14 16 43 45

ABCDEFGHI JKLM

A – Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act H – Attempt to commit murder

B – Immoral Traffi c Prevention Act, I – Juvenile Justice Act C – Human Traffi cking J – Other crimes (includes one case D – Prohibition of Child Marriage Act of infanticide) E – Murder K – Kidnapping and abduction F – Rape L – POCSO Act G – Assault on girl child with intent to outrage her modesty M – Procuration of minor girls Assam: Child Protection Factbook Source: NCRB Crime Report 2015

24 Total cases of crimes against children Rate of incidence of crimes against registered in Assam in 2015 children in Assam

23.8 2835

1385 11.6

518 4.4 392 3.4

2012 2013 2014 2015 2012 2013 2014 2015

Source: NCRB Crime Report 2015 Source: NCRB Crime Report 2015

There is a clear rise in the registration of cases of crimes against children as indicated by the trendline as well as in the rate of incidence, which is calculated as the incidence of crimes against children per lakh of estimated mid-year child population.

Age-wise distribution of child rape Distribution of child kidnapping and victims by cases registered in Assam abduction victims by cases registered in in 2015 Assam in 2015

282 20

15

7 96

1 5 0 >6 6 to <12 12 to <16 16 to <18 >6 6 to <12 12 to <16 16 to <18 years years years years years years

Source: NCRB Crime Report, 2015 Source: NCRB Crime Report, 2015 Crimes Against Children Crimes Children between the ages of 16 and 18 years are most vulnerable to rape, kidnapping and abductions. 25 Child Traffi cking Although the cases registered Total cases registered under child trafficking in Assam under child traffi cking do not

1317 indicate its total incidence, nevertheless, in absence of a signifi cant baseline study, this can indicate the growing incidence of such crimes. Assam has registered the highest number of cases in traffi cking of children during 2015 along with the highest 303 rate of incidence (11.2) and 144 124 129 78 the highest percentage contribution of 37.7% to the 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 all-India total cases of child traffi cking. Source: NCRB Crime Report

When the district disaggregated data is looked into, the most striking thing that gets revealed is that from 2001 to 2012 all the cases registered under Procuration of Minor girls (Sec. 366A-IPC) in Assam are from Dhubri, which might tell us to probe into the causal factors behind the high incidence or poor reporting of registered cases in other districts. (The district disaggregated data of 2013 and 2014 are not yet published)

Protection of Children from Sexual Off ences Act, 2012

The POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, 2012 was enacted to protect all children under the age of 18 years from the offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography and establish Special courts for trial of such offences. The Act provides for stringent punishments, ranging from simple to rigorous imprisonment of varying periods.

Cases registered under POCSO Act in Assam

Assam: Child Protection Factbook 731 2015 26 311 2014

Source: NCRB ‘Crime Report in India’, 2015 Table of major cases of crime against children registered from 2011 to 2015 Year Infanticide Murder Rape Kidnapping and Abduction Foeticide Abetment of Suicide Procuration of Minor Girls Selling of girls for prostitution Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 Other Crimes Total Crimes Against Children

2001 0 0 0 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 18

2002 1 1 3 1 0 0 6 0 1 1 14

2003 0 2 5 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 19

2004 0 1 7 3 0 0 8 1 1 0 21

2005 1 12 90 18 1 5 0 2 0 70 199

2006 0 11 61 25 1 5 0 1 1 147 252

2007 0 2 34 29 0 0 0 0 1 101 167

2008 0 1 27 7 0 0 0 0 1 147 183

2009 0 4 10 5 0 0 0 0 0 25 44

2010 0 10 39 17 0 0 75 3 0 53 197

2011 0 8 40 29 0 0 142 0 0 17 236

2012 0 15 156 68 0 0 122 0 0 31 392

2013 0 14 230 80 0 0 129 0 0 194 518

2014 0 22 125 70 0 0 303 0 4 861 1385

2015 1 16 43 383 0 0 1303 0 14 1075 2835

Source: NCRB ‘Crime Report in India’, 2015 Crimes Against Children Crimes

27 Assam: Child Protection Factbook

28 Missing Children Following a landmark judgment by the Supreme Court in 2013, a directive was issued for compulsory registration of cases by police of missing children with the assumption that they are victims of kidnapping and traffi cking. Following registration of FIR, the details of the missing child are entered in the portal trackthemissingchild.gov.in. If the child is found, the details are matched 29 in the website and the child is mandatorily produced before the CWC before being restored to her/his original guardians. Number of missing and traced children in 2015

911 traced children 1,674 missing children 1,029 girls 645 boys 573 338 girls boys Source: CID Assam

Missing children in Assam

1233

1002 1007 1029

619 615 645 570

2012 2013 2014 2015

Male Female

Source: CID Assam

Missing and traced children in Assam

1674 2015 911

1577 2014 791

2013 1617 688

2012 1852 698

Missing children Traced children

Source: CID Assam Assam: Child Protection Factbook

30 Missing and traced male children Missing and traced female children in Assam in Assam 645 1233 619 615 1029 1002 1007 570 338 573 275 262 270 521 436 413

2012201320142015 2012 2013 2014 2015

Missing children Traced children Missing children Traced children

Source: CID Assam Source: CID Assam

The ratio of missing boys to girls has been consistently high over the years.

Top 10 police stations registering cases of missing children (01/01/2014 – 31/03/2016)

81

51 40 32 24 22 20 19 18 18

Station Sivasagar Mangaldoi Jorhat Tinsukia Kharupetiya Demow Karimganj Udalguri Nazira Baihata

District Sivasagar Darrang Jorhat Tinsukia Darrang Sivasagar Karimganj Udalguri Sivasagar Kamrup

Source: Track Child portal (trackthemissingchild.gov.in)

The above fi gures do not necessarily indicate the distribution of areas under the police stations refl ecting higher incidence of cases of missing children, as the data is derived from the Track Child portal, in which all police stations are supposed to upload and register all missing cases online. Thus, Sivasagar police station has Missing Children succeeded to register the highest cases of missing children in the online portal.

31 Assam: Child Protection Factbook

32 Competent Authorities Under Juvenile Justice Act 33 Juvenile Justice Board (JJB)

Cases instituted and disposed in JJBS in Assam in 2016

1,182 cases instituted 1,422 cases disposed 1,379 cases pending

Source: SCPS Assam

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015 makes it mandatory to have one Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) in each district to deal with matters relating to juveniles in confl ict with law. There are 27 JJBs in Assam.

Number of cases instituted against cases disposed in Assam

1422 2015 1182

1608 2014 1334

985 2013 1093

1025 2012 1136

No. of cases disposed No. of cases instituted

Source: SCPS Assam

As seen from the above fi gure, there has been a rise in the number of cases registered against juveniles in confl ict with law. Assam: Child Protection Factbook

34 District Profi le

District-wise cases instituted and disposed in 2016 127 104 97 96 85 80 72 68 70 70 67 55 63 63 62 68 60 56 55 48 54 58 44 56 43 41 54 46 47 46 53 37 45 41 35 40 31 30 32 39 39 30 23 23 28 24 25 18 18 17 13 8 Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Cachar Chirang Nagaon Barpeta Darrang Tinsukia Udalguri Dhemaji Sonitpur Sibsagar Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (R) Kamrup (M) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Instituted cases Disposed cases

Source: SCPS Assam

District-wiseDistrict-wise cases institutedinstituted andand didisposedsposed iinn 2015 6 20 206 182 107 106 88 108 83 79 79 70 71 70 66 57 64 62 64 61 55 52 55 55 57 52 49 48 46 48 44 55 45 44 43 40 41 34 38 36 35 34 32 30 30 29 28 16 13 14 7 0 Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Cachar Chirang Nagaon Barpeta Darrang Tinsukia Udalguri Dhemaji Sonitpur Sibsagar Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Bongaigaon Kamrup (M) Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Instituted cases Disposed cases

Source: SCPS Assam

The district of Kamrup (Metro) had the highest number of cases registered in JJB Act Authorities Under Juvenile Justice Competent (107) while Dima Hasao had the least (14). Likewise, the JJB in Kamrup (Metro) also had the highest number of cases disposed in the JJBs. 35 Number of pending cases in JJBs in Assam

1890 The trendline indicates a 1782 1616 relatively positive trend 1379 with a drop in number of pending cases in JJBs

2013 2014 2015 2016 over the past few years. Source: SCPS Assam

Pending cases in JJBs of Assam in 2016 207 126 116 112 96 93 69 61 49 47 46 41 38 35 33 32 26 25 24 22 20 19 18 14 7 3 Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Cachar Chirang Nagaon Barpeta Darrang Tinsukia Udalguri Dhemaji Sonitpur Sibsagar Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (R) Kamrup (M) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Source: SCPS Assam

District-wise pending cases in Assam in JJBs in 2014 and 2015 268 239 182 163 170 139 134 141 111 112 96 125 83 97 79 63 67 74 71 60 70 59 46 33 55 54 41 45 43 44 39 39 41 21 54 50 38 32 28 31 15 19 19 16 17 10 10 8 3 0 Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Cachar Chirang Nagaon Barpeta Darrang Tinsukia Udalguri Dhemaji Sonitpur Sibsagar Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (M) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Assam: Child Protection Factbook 2015 2014

Source: SCPS Assam 36 The above two fi gures show high pendency of cases in which, if co-related with the pending cases in 2016 till March, indicates a probability of highest pendency in Nagaon even at the end of the current year. Child Welfare Committee (CWC)

Cases instituted and disposed in CWCs in Assam in 2016

2,919 (cases instituted) 2,750 (cases disposed)

641 (cases pending) Source: SCPS Assam

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015, makes it mandatory to set up Child Welfare Committees (CWC) to deal with all matters relating to children in need of care and protection. There are 26 CWCs in Assam.

Status of cases in Child Welfare Committees in Assam

2919 2750 2285 2177

1780 1725 1669 1680

1133 841 641 477 369 325 269

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Instituted Disposed Pending

Source: SCPS Assam Competent Authorities Under Juvenile Justice Act Authorities Under Juvenile Justice Competent

37 Trend of instituted cases in CWCs Trend of pending cases in CWCs of Assam of Assam

2919 641 477 2258 369 325 1669 1780 269

1133

20122013201420152016 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Source: SCPS Assam

As is refl ected clearly, the overall number of cases instituted in CWCs is rising; however, the fi gures also refl ect an increasing accumulation of pending cases. Assam: Child Protection Factbook

38 Children in Alternative Care

39 Institutional Care

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, directs for the creation of institutional facilities and maintenance of existing institutional facilities for both children in confl ict with law and children in need of care and protection. These include Open Shelters, Children’s Homes and Observation Homes, Special Homes and Place of Safety.

Children’s Home

A large number of children in need of care and protection who enter the juvenile justice system through the Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) require residential care and protection during the pendency of any inquiry and subsequently for their long-term care, treatment, education, training, development and rehabilitation. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, empowers the State Government, either by itself or in collaboration with voluntary organizations, to set up Children’s Homes in every district or group of districts for the reception and residential care of such children.

Number of children institutionalized and moved out of Children’s Homes in 2016

Institutionalized children

1,269

Children moved out 2,046 1,249 777

Source: SCPS, Assam

1,808 559 Source: SCPS, Assam Assam: Child Protection Factbook

40 Number of children institutionalized and moved out of Children’s Homes

2046

1976 1876 1867 1569 1808

1126 1147

609 553

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

No. of children newly institutionalized (admission) No. of children moved out of institution

Source: SCPS, Assam

Number of male children institutionalized and moved out of Children’s Homes in Assam 777 2016 559

696 2015 698

389 2014 806

255 2013 271

224 2012 119

No. of children newly institutionalized (admission) No. of children moved out of institution

Source: SCPS, Assam

Number of female children institutionalized and moved out of Children’s Homes in Assam

1269 2016 1249

1180 2015 1169

1180 2014 1170

871 2013 876

329 2012 490 Children in Alternative Care Children in No. of children newly institutionalized (admission) No. of children moved out of institution

Source: SCPS, Assam 41 The number of girls institutionalized in Children’s Homes has been higher than boys over the years as seen from the above fi gures. Observation Home Number of children institutionalized and moved out of Observation Homes in 2016

Institutionalized children Children moved out 17

14

686 680 672 663 Source: SCPS Assam Source: SCPS Assam

Children in confl ict with law who enter the juvenile justice system through the Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) are in need of adequate residential care and protection during the pendency of any inquiry regarding them under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. The Act empowers the State Governments to establish and maintain, either by itself or under an agreement with NGOs, Observation Homes in every district or group of districts for their temporary reception.

Number of children institutionalized and moved out of Observation Homes in Assam 686 680

646 574 584 574

500

421 394 378

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

No. of children newly institutionalized (admission) No. of children moved out of institution

Source: SCPS, Assam

Number ofof male children newly institutionalized and moved out ooff OObservationbservation HomeHomess iinn AssaAssamm

666363 20162016 667272

20120155 567 573

565611 2014 663636 Assam: Child Protection Factbook 2013 337474 449595

338686 42 2012 415

Moved out Newly institutionalized

Source: SCPS, Assam Number of female children institutionalized and moved out of Observation Homes in Assam

17 2016 14

7 2015 11

13 2014 10

4 2013 5

8 2012 6

Moved out Newly institutionalized

Source: SCPS, Assam

There is a clear higher number of boys institutionalized in Observation Homes over the years as seen from the above fi gures.

Children’s home disaggregated data

Period from January to December, 2016 Children Moved Out SL Number District/City Boys/Girls Govt. run/ Private Children home (CH)/Obs. Home (OH) Name of the NGOs New Admission

1 Golaghat Both Private CH Bokakhat Nirman Gut 15 16

2 Dhubri Both Private CH Fulkumari Bapuji Club (Saya) 33 26

3 Guwahati Both Private CH Gram Vikash Parishad 4 9

4 Morigaon Both Private CH Gramya Unnayan Sanstha, 21 27

5 Guwahati Both Private CH Destination 11 5

6 Jorhat Both Private CH IMPACT–N.E. 0 5

7 Goalpara Both Private CH Integrated Development 64 55 Association (Alok Greha)

8 Baksa Both Private CH Mission North-East 4 5

9 Dib Both Private CH Mrinaljyoti Rehabilitation 6 3 Centre, (Jyoti Nivas) Children in Alternative Care Children in 10 Chirang Both Private CH Nischima Orphanage Home 11 36 Society 43 11 Tinsukia Both Private CH Shanti Seva Ashram 74 62

12 Guwahati Both Private CH Sishu Kalyan Sadan 36 2 (Contd...) Children’s home disaggregated data

13 Guwahati Both Private CH Snehalaya, Centre for Child 46 31 Rights

14 Sonitpur Both Private CH SOFTSEED, (both) 72 62

15 Guwahati Both Private CH SOS Children’s Village 23 23

16 Hojai Both Private CH SOS Children’s Village, Hojai 16 23

17 Dhemaji Both Private CH Sri Sri Sewa Ashram 4 9

18 Barpeta Both Private CH Students Welfare Mission 5 2

19 Cachar Both Private CH WODWICHEE 53 37

20 Guwahati Girls Govt. CH Jalukbari Girls’ Home 405 405

21 Nagaon Girls Govt. CH Nagaon Children’s Home 479 495

22 Guwahati Boys Govt. CH Fatisil Ambari 352 253

23 Guwahati Girls Govt. CH Jalukbari Transitional Home 103 103

24 Guwahati Both Private CH Seven Sisters 4 2

25 Sivsagar Both Private CH Shape 47 30

26 Jorhat Both Private CH Hopeline 35 22

27 Sivasagar Both Private CH Kaumudalaya 4 1

28 Mangaldai Both Private CH Mangaldai Mahila Kalyan 0 0 Samaj

29 Karimganj Both Private CH Netaji Sporting Club 1 0

30 Udalguri Both Private CH ROSS 15 3

31 Nalbari Both Private CH Society for Human 20 3 Development

Observation home disaggregated data Children Moved Out SL Number District/City Boys/Girls Govt. run/ Private Children home (CH)/Obs. Home (OH) Name of the NGOs New Admission

32 Nagaon Both Private CH Sodou Asom Grammya 7 3 Puthibharal Sangstha

Assam: Child Protection Factbook 33 Lakhimpur Both Private CH Lakhimpur Children Home 45 37

34 Dibrugarh Both Private CH Prerona 21 10 44 35 Baksa Both Private CH Zwngmai 10 3

Total (Children’s Home) in Assam 2,046 1,808 (Contd...) Observation home disaggregated data

Period from January to December, 2016 Children Moved Out SL Number District/City Boys/Girls Govt. run/ Private Children home (CH)/Obs. Home (OH) Name of the NGOs New Admission

27 Jorhat Boys Govt. OH Jorhat Observation Home 312 300

28 Boko Boys Govt. OH Boko Observation Home 316 319

29 Nagaon Girls Govt. OH Nagaon Observation Home 8 9

30 Guwahati Girls Govt. OH Jalukbari Observation Home 6 8

31 Observation Home 44 44

Total (observation home) in Assam 686 680

GRAND TOTAL (Children’s Home + Observation Home) in Assam 2,732 2,488

Family-based Alternative Care

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and the Model Central Rules, 2016, framed thereunder provide for the rehabilitation and reintegration of children through sponsorship, foster-care, adoption and after-care.

Adoption

Adoption status in Assam in 2016

190 Number of PAPs awaiting adoption

55 Children awaiting adoption 43

Children for Alternative Care Children in pre-adoption 25 Children placed 45 in adoption

Source: SCPS Assam Status of adoption of children in Assam 190

120 110

93 89 86

55 48 43 27 25 22

No. of children No. of children for No. of children No. of PAPs placed in adoption pre-adoption awaiting adoption awaiting adoption

2014 2015 2016

Source: SCPS Assam

Status of adoption of male children in Assam 47 44 40 36

31 30 26 23 22

17 15 14 10 6 8

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Boys placed in adoption No. of boys in pre-adoption No. of boys awaiting adoption

Source: SCPS Assam

Status of adoption of female children in Assam 66

46 46 40 37 34 33 35 29 27 26 26

17 16 17

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Assam: Child Protection Factbook No. of girl children No. of girl children No. of girl children placed in adoption for pre-adoption awaiting adoption

Source: SCPS Assam 46 There were fewer children placed in adoption in 2016 as compared to the previous years. Accidental Deaths and Suicide among Children 47 Suicides among children in Assam in 2015

358 children 3.8% under 18 years of Assam’s share of the age committed all-India total number suicide of suicides among children

164 girls under 194 boys 18 years committed under 18 years suicide committed suicide

193 159

5 1

0–14 years 15–under 18 years 0-14 years 15–under 18 years

Source: NCRB ADSI Report 2015

10.8%10.8% isis the percentagepercentage share of suicides of the 14–under18 yearsyears ageage groupgroup of the totaltotal suicidessuicides inin AssamAssam inin 20152015

Suicides among children (under 18 years) in Assam

245 Incidence of suicides is higher 194 in males than female children in 163 164 Assam. Suicides among children (in the age group of 14 to less than 18 years) account for 98.3% of the total 2014 2015 suicides in children Boys Girls in Assam. Assam: Child Protection Factbook

Source: NCRB ADSI Report 2015

48 856 children under 18 years of age died of road accidents in Assam in 2015

147 girls under 18 years died in road 2015 accidents in Assam in 2014 19.7% of total accidental deaths in Assam is of children under 18 years of age in 2015, which is the highest among all states in India

709 boys under 18 years died in road accidents in Assam in 2014

104 girl victims of road accidents (14–below 18 years)

43 girl victims of road 569 accidents boy victims of (below 14 road acidents years) (14–below 18 years) 140 boy victims of road accidents (below 14 years)

Source: NCRB ADSI Report 2015 Accidental Deaths and Suicide amongst Children

49 Gender-wise trend of accidental deaths There has been a total 83% increase of children in Assam in the total number of accidental deaths among children (0–18 years) in Assam 709 from 2014 to 2015

Trend of accidental deaths of children 402 in Assam 856

147 468 66

2014 2015 2014 2015

Boys Girls Source: SCPS Assam

Source: NCRB ADSI Report 2015

Incidence of deaths due to road accidents is 57% more in males than female children in Assam. There is a clear and signifi cant upward trend in accidental deaths among children in Assam. Assam: Child Protection Factbook

50 Disability

51 Disability State Profi le 134,479 is the total 1% of the population 28% of total disabled number of population of (0–19) years in Assam is population in Assam fall in 0–19 years of age who disabled the (0–19) years age group are disabled in Assam

Age-group-wise percentage share of disabled population (0–19 years) in Assam (2011) 73,233 number of 57.4% boys (0–19 years) who 56.6% are disabled in Assam

42.6% 43.4%

42041 34640

61,246 number of 31192 26606 girls (0–19 years) who are disabled in Assam

Male Female

0–9 years 10–19 years Source: Census 2011 Source: Census 2011

88% of disabled population (0–19 years) of Assam reside in rural areas while the remaining 12% reside in urban areas.

Proportion of disabled population Percentage distribution of population (0–19 years) by age group in Assam (0–19) by type of disability in Assam (2011)

17% 10% 23%

26% 15%

8%

57% 21% 12% 11%

0–4 years 5–9 years 10–19 years Seeing Hearing Speech Movement

Assam: Child Protection Factbook Mental retardation Other Multiple & mental illness disability Source: Census 2011 Source: Census 2011 52 The largest share of disabled population between 0 and 19 years is held by the (10–19 years) age group. 54.4% of disabled population (0–19 years) are males and 45.6% are females. District Profi le

District-wise proportion of disabled population (0–19 years) in Assam 1.4 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.01 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.86 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.5 Baksa Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Cachar Assam Chirang Nagaon Barpeta Darrang Tinsukia Udalguri Dhemaji Sonitpur Sibsagar Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (R) Kamrup (M) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Source: Census 2011

31.1% is the percentage of out-of- Percentage share of districts of total disabled population (0–19 years) in Assam school CWSN in Assam according to NSSO – SSA study (2014) Nagaon 9.6 Dhubri 7.3 Cachar 6.1 Sonitpur 5.7 Number of CWSN enrolled upto Barpeta 5.3 Class XII Kamrup (R) 5.1 111892 Karimganj 4.6 Kamrup (M) 4.4 87931 Dibrugarh 3.9 Morigaon 3.8 Sibsagar 3.5 Darrang 3.4 Jorhat 3.4 Tinsukia 3.4 Total CWSN Total disabled enrolled (DISE population (5–19 yrs) Golaghat 3.1 2012) (Census 2011) Baksa 3 Goalpara 3 Source: DISE (2012), Census 2011 Karbi Anglong 2.9 Udalguri 2.8 Kokrajhar 2.6 Hailakandi 2.5 Lakhimpur 2.5

Nalbari 2.4 Disability Bongaigaon 1.9 Dhemaji 1.9 Chirang 1.6 53 Dima Hasao 0.5

Source: Census 2011 Assam: Child Protection Factbook

54 Child Marriage The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, states – ‘Child means a person who, if a male, has not completed twenty-one years of age, and if a female, has not completed eighteen years of age’ – and deems marriages of minors illegal and punishable under law. 55 State Profi le

32.6% women (20–24 years 23.3% men (25–29 years of age) were married before of age) were married before they turned 18 years they turned 21 years

Source: NFHS4 (2015–2016)

District Profi le

Proportion of women (20–24) years married below 18 years in Assam (2015–2016) 49 48 47 43 43 41 41 38 37 34 32 30 30 30 30 29 27 27 27 26 26 26 22 22 22 21 19 Baksa Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Cachar Chirang Nagaon Barpeta Darrang Tinsukia Udalguri Dhemaji Sonitpur Sibsagar Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (R) Kamrup (M) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Source: NFHS4 (2015–2016)

The district of Dhubri indicates the highest incidence of child marriage for girls. Assam: Child Protection Factbook

56 Teenage Pregnancy

57 Pregnancy Among Adolescents

13.6% of adolescent girls or 1 in 10 adolescent Proportion of women (15–19 years age) girls (15–19 years age) in Assam were pregnant or pregnant or already begun had already begun childbearing (2015–2016). childbearing in Assam

17.1

16.4 14.4

13.6 12.9

8.1

Total Rural Urban

NFHS3 NFHS4

Source: NFHS4 Data Source: NCRB ADSI Report 2015

Proportion of women (15–19 years age) who are pregnant or had begun

childbearing in Assam (2015–2016) 27 26 22 21 19 17 16 16 16 13 13 13 13 14 12 11 10 11 11 11 10 9 8 8 8 8 7.3 7 Baksa Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Assam Cachar Chirang Nagaon Barpeta Darrang Tinsukia Udalguri Dhemaji Sonitpur Sibsagar Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (R) Kamrup (M) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Source: NFHS4 (2015–2016)

Goalpara district has the highest percentage of teenage pregnant and mothers in Assam. There are 3 in 10 adolescent girls of 15–19 years age group were either pregnant or mothers in Goalpara in 2015–2016. Assam: Child Protection Factbook

58 Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS)

The Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS), a web-based portal, was launched by the Government of India in December, 2009, to improve the health status of women and children. Online uploading of name-based data of pregnant women and children under MCTS Portal is done to track pregnant women for universalized obstetric care comprising of antenatal, delivery and postnatal care, and to track children towards achievement of full immunization goals in the country. The software also tracks pregnant women by age group. The data of pregnant adolescent girls under 19 years of age as shown below has been sourced from National Health Mission, Assam, for the purpose of the factsheet.

26% or atleast 2 in 10 pregnant women registered in the MCTS are under Proportion of women 15–19 years pregnant 19 years of age in Assam (2015–2016). or already begun childbearing in Assam 25.7 25.5

24.9 24.3

2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Source: Mother and Child Tracking System Source: Mother and Child Tracking System (NHM, Assam) (NHM, Assam)

District-wise proportion of pregnant adolescent girls under 19 years of age of the district-wise total pregnant women registered in MCTS in Assam (2015–2016) 34 32 32 31 30 30 29 29 26 26 26 25 25 25 26 24 23 23 23 23 22 22 22 22 22 21 20 19 Baksa Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Assam Cachar Chirang Nagaon Kamrup Barpeta Darrang Tinsukia Udalguri Dhemaji Sonitpur Sibsagar Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (M) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Source: Mother and Child Tracking System (NHM, Assam) Teenage Pregnancy Teenage The proportion of pregnant adolescent girls (under 19 years of age) to total pregnant women is increasing, as the MCTS data suggests. Bongaigaon has the highest adolescent (under 19 years of age) pregnant population proportion of total pregnant 59 women population registered in the MCTS. This can also indicate that the MCTS is functioning relatively better in the district as compared to the others. Maternal Death

Maternal Death Review (MDR) (part of the RCH-II National Programme implementation plan document) provides detailed information on various factors at the facility, district, community, regional and national levels that are needed to be addressed to reduce maternal deaths. It has the objective of identifying the delays that contribute to maternal deaths at various levels through their analysis, and using this information to adopt measures to fi ll the gaps in services. The Government of India has decided to take up Community-Based Maternal Death Review (CBMDR) and the Facility-Based Maternal Death Review (FBMDR); CBMDR involves using a verbal autopsy format for fi nding out the medical causes of death and ascertaining the personal, family or community factors that may have contributed to the deaths while FBMDR is intended to be taken up in all government-teaching hospitals, referral hospitals and other hospitals (District, Sub district, CHCs) where more than 500 deliveries are conducted in a year to investigate and identify causes, mainly clinical and systemic, which lead to maternal deaths in health facilities. Any maternal death which occurred in the hospital should be immediately investigated within 24 hours by the Medical Offi cer who had treated the mother and was on duty at the time of occurrence of death using the Facility-Based Maternal Death Review (FBMDR) format. The data entry and collation of CBMDR and FBMDR in Assam is in a developing phase; however, access to 2014–2015 data on MDR (both CBMDR and FBMDR) of 17 districts of Assam throws an interesting light on teenage maternal deaths.

‘Maternal death is defi ned as the death of a woman who dies from any cause-related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management (excluding accidental or incidental causes) during pregnancy or child birth or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of duration and site of the pregnancy’ – NHM.

672 maternal deaths 62 out of 672 maternal deaths registered in MDR in registered in MDR are under 19 17 districts of Assam* years of age in 17 districts of in 2014–2015. Assam* in 2014–2015.

Source: MDR, 2015–15

According to MDR data (2014-15):

9.2% of total maternal deaths entered in the 25.9% – Percentage of under 19 pregnant MDR system are under 19 years of age. adolescents of total pregnant women registered i.e., 2 in 20 women dying due to pregnancy- in MCTS in 17* districts of Assam. related causes are under 19 years of age in

Assam: Child Protection Factbook Assam. 9.6% – Percentage of under 19 maternal deaths of total maternal deaths entered in MDR in 17* districts of Assam. 60 * Data of 17 districts (Baksa, Barpeta, Cachar, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Golaghat, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sonitpur, Tinsukia, Jorhat, Karimganj) Birth Registration India is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, which recognizes birth registration as one of the fi rst rights of child and is committed to achieve universalization of birth registration. In India, registration of birth is compulsory under the Registration of Births and Deaths (RBD) Act, 1969. The Act mandates that every birth should be registered and a birth certifi cate provided free of charge to the informant. Under the RBD Act, the institutions 61 where birth takes place are to register the birth and issue the birth certifi cate in case they have been declared as the registration units or to report the event to the local Registrar of Births and Deaths. State Profi le Birth registration Birth certification

80.8% births of children under 5 years 52.3% of births registered of children of age, registered in Assam as per RSOC under fi ve years have birth certifi cates in (2013–2014) and 94.2% according to Assam as per RSOC (2013–2014) NFHS4 (2015–2016)

Source: CRS Report, 2013 Source: CRS Report, 2013

Level of registration of births

100 98

86 88

79 82 86 84 84 77 75 82 68 71 81 76 75 60 58 69 63 60 51

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

India Assam Source: CRS Report, 2013

The ‘Level of registration’ is defi ned as the percentage of registered births to the births estimated through SRS. It determines the performance level of a State/Union territory with regard to the functioning of Civil Registration System. Assam: Child Protection Factbook

62 Trend of registration of births of children under five years in Assam According to the data of NFHS, Assam 97.4 has registered a big 94.2 93.8 improvement in birth registration in a period of 10 years. The striking 67.4 thing is that progress 43 is almost uniform 40 over rural and urban areas. The progress in percentage points is almost double in rural Total Rural Urban areas. NFHS3 (2005–2006) NFHS4 (2015–2016)

Source: Mother and Child Tracking System (NHM, Assam)

District Profi le

Proportion of women (15–19 years) who are pregnant or had begun childbearing in Assam (2015–2016) 99 98 98 98 98 97 97 97 96 96 95 95 95 95 95 95 94 94 94 94 94 93 93 86 85 84 80 Baksa Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Cachar Nagaon Chirang Barpeta Darrang Tinsukia Udalguri Dhemaji Sonitpur Sibsagar Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (R) Kamrup (M) Bongaigaon Dima Hasao Karbi Anglong

Source: NFHS4 (2015–2016)

All the districts are more or less in a close range when it comes to birth registration in Assam with the highest percentage in Jorhat (99%) and the least in Tinsukia with 80%. Birth Registration

63 District-wise percentage points of gap between birth registration and birth certification in Assam(2012–2013) recorded the highest

Cachar 50.5 percentage (95.3%) of Tinsukia 32.8 birth registration while Sibsagar 25 Kokrajhar recorded the lowest (78.9%) among Dibrugarh 23.1 the 23 districts covered Golaghat 21.9 in the survey in 2012– Karbi Anglong 20.8 2013. Jorhat 20.6 Hailakandi 19 showed the highest Assam 18 gap between birth Barpeta 17.7 registration and birth Kokrajhar 16.9 certifi cation of (50.5%), Sonitpur 16.5 i.e., in Cachar, half of Karimganj 16.5 the children whose Darrang 15.5 births are registered Goalpara 15.4 had not received their N.C. Hills 13.9 birth certifi cates in Nagaon 13.1 2012–2013. Bongaigaon 11.7 Dhubri 11.4 Dhemaji 10.6 Kamrup (R) 10.1 Nalbari 9.7 Morigaon 9.1 Lakhimpur 7.8

Source: AHS (2012–2013)

District-wise percentage points of gap between birth registration and birth certification in rural areas of Assam (2012–2013) 50.8 35.5 25.1 25.4 21.6 21.9 23.2 19.4 18.6 18.1 17.7 17.1 15.2 16.6 15.1 16.1 13.1 12 11.3 11.9 10.6 9.8 9.1 8.2 Jorhat Dhubri Nalbari Assam Cachar Nagaon Barpeta Darrang Tinsukia Dhemaji Sonitpur Sibsagar Goalpara Golaghat Kokrajhar N.C. Hills Morigaon Dibrugarh Karimganj Hailakandi Lakhimpur Kamrup (R) Bongaigaon Karbi Anglong Assam: Child Protection Factbook

Source: AHS (2012–2013)

64 When it comes to looking exclusively at the rural areas in Assam, records the highest gap in percentage points between birth registration and birth certifi cation.