NEW DELHI: Despite India making great strides in the reduction of poverty, about 206 million children in the country lack access to one of the six basic services like education, health, housing, nutrition, clean water and sanitation, which impacts the quality of life and opportunities, said the latest UNICEF report released Thursday.

UNICEF's report State of the World’s Children 2025: Ending Child Poverty - Our Shared Imperative said that out of the 206 million Indian children, less than a third or 62 million, lack access to two or more basic services and still need support to escape two or more deprivations.

Highlighting that India is the most populous country in the world and home to the largest young population, Cynthia McCaffrey, UNICEF India Representative, said that one in five of the world’s children, or approximately 460 million children under 18 years of age, live here.

“More than half of India’s 460 million children have access to basic services,” she said.

She said India has made strides in reducing poverty – a powerful indicator of progress toward achieving SDG 1.2 ahead of the 2030 endline – while investment in child wellbeing has plateaued in most parts of the world.  

The target under UN-mandated Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 1.2 is to ‘reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions by 2030.’

She said poverty in India has declined significantly, with 248 million people escaping multidimensional poverty in just a decade.

Praising India’s flagship programmes like the Poshan Abhiyaan, Samagra Shiksha, PM-KISAN, Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Swachh Bharat, etc, she said these schemes have increased investment in children, and evidence has shown that India is reaping the dividends.