Population of children in rural TN plummets

CHENNAI: Unicef has predicted that a majority of children will grow up in towns and cities rather than rural areas even as the population of children below six has declined by 13 per cent in rural Tamil Nadu.Unicef’s report ‘State of The World’s Children Report -2012’, says more than 50 per cent of the world’s population will live in urban areas. Interestingly, in TN, the population of below six years has increased by eight per cent in the urban areas, according to 2011 Census.The state has 69 lakh children in the below six age group with 48 per cent of them living in urban areas. The report has also set out five key steps to build an equitable approach to children living in towns and cities. These include understanding poverty and exclusion with better data, removing barriers to inclusion by expansion of services and ensuring the use of marginalised families, putting children first by focusing on their needs in urban planning, promoting partnership with urban poor with community involvement and working together to achieve results for children.