Research and Policy Research Division

The Research and Policy Research Division of the Satyarthi Global Policy Institute for Children is working towards addressing data and evidence gaps in child protection, education, health and nutrition through primary and secondary research and public engagement and outreach.

In 2021, the Division carried out path breaking research and came out with position papers on key issues relating to child rights and child protection.

Here are some key highlights of research projects handled by the Division in 2021.

Street Children in NCT of Delhi: A Rapid Assessment
Street children are the most deprived without a safety net to ensure their care and protection. A rapid situation assessment was undertaken in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, in which 481 street children were interviewed. A very conservative calculation suggests that the approximate number of street children in the NCT of Delhi is 60,431.

Report on Availability and Accessibility to Health Care Services in Jharkhand
A household survey on availability and accessibility to health care services in Koderma and Giridih district of Jharkhand was conducted. The study highlighted the need to strengthen the public health infrastructure in the state. It is encouraging to know that recently the Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India, has released Rs 444.4 cr to Jharkhand as a health sectoral grant to strengthen and plug critical gaps in the health care system, especially at the primary health care level.

Police Case Disposal Pattern: An Enquiry into the Cases Filed under POCSO Act
Police investigation is one of the most critical parts of the Criminal Justice System, which is carried out independently by the police under the judiciary’s oversight. This study focused on the pattern of POCSO cases disposed of by the police.
It highlighted that about 3,000 POCSO cases fail to reach the court for a fair trial every year. Also, almost 4 child victims of sexual abuse every day are denied justice due to the closure of their case by the police due to insufficient evidence and clue.

Status of Utilisation of Nirbhaya Fund: An assessment one year after releasing the report in 2019
This study aimed to determine the impact of the KSCF report released in 2019, highlighting the underutilisation of the Nirbhaya Fund. Various leading newspapers covered the study conducted by the KSCF in 2019 in the country.
As a result of this and the subsequent advocacy efforts made by the organisation to improve the utilisation of the Nirbhaya Fund, it was seen that utilisation of funds has increased from a meagre 11 percent in 2019 to 63 percent in 2020.

University Partnership
In addition to the research work, the Division is keen on establishing institutional partnerships with University and academic institutions to disseminate knowledge on all issues relating to children.
Under the institutional partnership programme, five children rescued and rehabilitated by the Bachpan Bachao Andolan were admitted to SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, for various academic courses.
Apart from this, students were encouraged to pursue their doctoral research work on child rights and protection related topics across the partner institutions.