India
India has a varied and distinct geographical regions and a diverse population, it is home to more than one billion people.
It gained independence from Britain in 1947, and Hindi is the official language although English is widely spoken. 80% of the population is Hindu, and 14% Muslim, with the remainder Christian, Sikh, Buddhist or Jain.
Even though economic growth in India has been strong over the past decade it remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Significant disparities between class, caste, gender and geography remains, and 35% of the population live on less than $1 a day. Serious childhood illnesses such as polio and diarrhoea, along with widespread malnutrition, remain prevalent.
The national literacy rate is only 61% and this figure is far lower in the poorer areas where Plan is working. Girls’ access to education is particularly limited and the literacy rate for women, at just 48%, is well below the national average.
Some of the reasons why Plan works in India
- One in every eleven children die before reaching the age of five
- Nearly half of all children under five years suffer from stunted growth due to malnutrition
- A quarter of girls do not go to primary school
- 70% of the population does not have access to adequate sanitation facilities
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Bollywood star donates movie fee to Plan
Anil Kapoor, who stars in the highly acclaimed new Danny Boyle film Slumdog Millionaire, has donated his entire fee for the movie to Plan’s Universal Birth Registration campaign in India |
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Soap opera tackles female foeticide
A third series of a Plan-supported Indian television soap opera, 'Atmajaa' - Born from the Soul - was launched with the aim of spreading messages of equality, female empowerment and the consequences of female infanticide |
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