SOUTH ASIA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

2246Court recognized abuse alone as sufficient grounds for a Christian woman to obtaina divorce. Under Islamic law, a Muslim husband may divorce his wife spontaneouslyand unilaterally; there is no such provision for women. Islamic law also allows polygyny(under which a man may have up to four wives) but prohibits polyandry(under which a woman may have muliple husbands). On February 1, CEDAW notedthat ‘‘steps have not been taken to reform the personal laws of different religiousand ethnic groups, in consultation with them, so as to conform with the Convention.The Committee is concerned that the Government’s policy of non-intervention perpetuatessexual stereotypes, son preference and discrimination against women.’’The Hindu Succession Act provides equal inheritance rights for Hindu women, butmarried daughters seldom are given a share in parental property. Islamic law recognizesa woman’s right of inheritance but specifies that a daughter’s share onlyshould be one-half that of a son.Under many tribal land systems, notably in Bihar, tribal women do not have theright to own land. Other laws relating to the ownership of assets and land accordwomen little control over land use, retention, or sale. However, several exceptionsexist, as in Ladakh and Meghalaya, where women may have several husbands andcontrol the family inheritance.Thousands of grassroots organizations work for social justice and the economic advancementof women, in addition to the National Commission for Women. The Governmentusually supports these efforts, despite strong resistance from traditionallyprivileged groups.Children.—The Government does not provide compulsory, free, and universal primaryeducation, and only approximately 59 percent of children between the ages of5 and 14 attend school. Of a primary school-age population of approximately 203million, about 120 million children attend school. No significant sectors or groupsactively are excluded, but the economic reality is that children of wealthier familiesare more likely to attend school than those of poor families. According to a UNDPstudy conducted in 1993, the dropout rate from primary school was 34 percent. Asignificant gender gap exists in school attendance, particularly at the secondarylevel. According to UNICEF, 59 percent of boys and 38 percent of girls were enrolledin secondary school.The central Government spends approximately 5.9 percent of its overall budgeton education. The state governments also spend part of their budgets on education,but no comprehensive figure of combined federalstate expenditure is available. A1993 study commissioned by the UNDP estimated that about 3.7 percent of thecountry’s gross national product is devoted to education. On February 23, the Committeeon the Rights of the Child of the UNHRC expressed concern ‘‘at the prevailingpoor situation in the state party with respect to education, which is characterizedby a general lack of infrastructure, facilities and equipment, insufficientnumbers of qualified teachers and a drastic shortage of text books and other relevantlearning materials. There is serious concern regarding the striking disparitiesin terms of access to education, attendance at primary and secondary levels anddrop-out rates between: different states, rural and urban areas, boys and girls, theaffluent and the poor, and children belonging to scheduled castes and tribes.’’Child welfare organizations estimate that there are 500,000 street children nationwideliving in abject poverty.A coalition of about 50 NGO’s conducted a detailed survey in the Calcutta municipalarea and identified 145,000 children who were not attending school. Not all ofthem were street children. The NGO’s received UNICEF assistance in trainingteachers to conduct transitional education for a target group of 45,000 5 to 9yearoldchildren. The course work is intended to allow these children to enter mainstreamschooling. UNICEF has contributed $94,000 (4.4 million rupees) for this activity;the West Bengal government has provided technical advice; the central Governmentcontributed nothing to the project. By year’s end, 300 teachers had receivedtraining and 235 centers are functioning. About 5,875 children are attending transitionaleducation sessions at these centers.Child prostitution occurs in the cities, and there are an estimated 575,00 childprostitutes nationwide. Trafficking in children for the purpose of forced prostitutionis a problem (see Sections 6.c. and 6.f.). On February 23, the U.N. Committee onthe Rights of the Child of the UNCHR expressed concern ‘‘about the sexual abuseand exploitation of children, especially those belonging to the lower castes and frompoor urban and rural areas, in the contexts of: Religious and traditional culture;child domestic workers; children living and/or working on the streets; communal violenceand ethnic conflict; abuse by security forces in areas of conflict, such asJammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states; and trafficking and commercialexploitation, especially girls form neighboring countries, particularly Nepal. It isVerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:46 Sep 20, 2001 Jkt 071555 PO 00000 Frm 00090 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.035 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1