November 2001

• 42% of India's population lives below poverty line US$1.25/day
• 35% of the adult population in India is illiterate
• 33% of the world's under-weight children below 5yo live in India
• 1.8 million children per year die before their 5th birthday, and
• less than 50% of females (age 14-16) attend a secondary school.

From our experiences and the fact that nearly 60% of the entire population in India has no birth registration, the real numbers are probably much higher, and a greater number of people are living in impoverished conditions. Although it is difficult to get an exact number of street children due to their mobility, it is estimated that 18 million children live on the streets in India.