Current Scenario Facts
• One out of six children in the world lives in India.
• There are 128 million children aged 2-6 and four out of five of these children lack access to early childhood care and education.
• A third of Indian children live below the poverty line
• Almost 1 in 10 children dies before the age of five
• One third of all birth in the country are below the minimum acceptable birth weight of 2,500 gms; India accounts for 35 per cent of the developing world’s low birth weight babies
• Three out of four children in India are anemic.
• The 2001 Census data illustrate the child sex ratio (0-6 years) declined from 945 girls to 1,000 boys in 1991 to 927 in the 2001 Census.
• Total child budget in Union Budget for 2006-2007 was 4.9%. On an average, between 2000 and 2005, only 2.35 percent of the Union Budget was spent on children
 
Wide Disparity 
Sex Ratio
The more prosperous states of Haryana, Gujarat, and Punjab demonstrate the lowest sex ratio. Also, consistently, across the states, urban figures tend to be even lower than the rural figures clearly reflecting the need to focus on urban contexts (World Bank, 2004) where better sex determination facilities are available and exploited.  
IMR is the single most important indicator illustrating the level of human development of a nation or a state. The national figure, however, camouflages wide variations within the country.
a) Regional variations:
An IMR below 10 indicates a high level of development, and in India, as many as six States/UTs are gradually approaching this level with IMR of Kerala, Mizoram, Goa, Pondicherry, Andaman& Nicobar, Daman&Diu. The states within the highest category, on the other hand, are Orissa (96.7), Madhya Pradesh (89.5), Uttar Pradesh (84.4) and Rajasthan (81.2)(Figure 7). High female illiteracy in these areas along with the problem of lack of access to health services in remote rural, tribal and hilly areas are major factors associated with high IMR 
b) Gender differentials:.
In several States particularly Haryana, Maharastra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh, the IMR among females was found to be higher than that for males indicating a definite gender bias. 

Pre School Enrollment
State Variations:
While inter state variations in coverage of Pre school enrollment exist; more than 25 per cent of children enrolled in Pre School Education belong to States such as Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab and Tamilnadu.  
Gender disparities:
In favour of boys are observable. The gross enrolment ratio for boys in the ICDS was reported to be 17.3 as against 16.9 for girls (Government of India, 2000; Kaul, 1999). 
As per the statistics available with the Department of Elementary Education & Literacy the total number of children enrolled at the pre-primary level are 46,23,168 of whom 21,43,099 (46percent) are girls 
Rural-Urban divide: ECCE provision is very unequally distributed with pronounced rural/ urban/slum disparities. According to the 2001 census, the share of urban population in the country is approximately 28% (avg.). However, only about 13 per cent of all ICDS projects (Rural, Urban and Tribal) are located in urban areas. 

Going Ahead 
Industrialization, urbanization, migration and increased participation of women in the workforce have transformed traditional family patterns. As a result, the quality of care available to young children has deteriorated. Members of the extended family are not available to assist in the caring of the children. 
Increased Marginalization: Mckinsey projects that although the level of urbanization will only be 37% by 2025, the actual numbers of people living in urban areas will go up to 523 mn from 318 mn at 2005. This means increased migration into megacities, mini-metros and some upcoming towns- clearly implies that there will be increased marginalization of the urban poor.  
Going forward, Pre school education services will need to be provided for 70 million children (3-5 years) by 2011 (Source: Child Population Projection, Census of India 2001) 

Need for ECE 
Research shows that there are ‘critical periods’ at this stage for full development of brains potential. The formation of later attitudes and values as well as the desire to learn are also influenced at this stage, while lack of support or neglect can lead to negative consequences, sometimes irreversible. Early Childhood Education (ECE) requires that young children be provided opportunities and experiences that lead to their all-round development -- physical, mental, social, emotional and school readiness. Alongside with health and nutrition, learning is also equally important. Learning at early stage must be directed by the child’s interests and priorities, and should be contextualized by her experiences rather than being structured formally. An enabling environment for children would be one that is rich, allows children to explore, experiment and freely express themselves and one that is embedded in social relations that give a sense of warmth, security and trust. Playing, Music, Art and other activities using local materials along with opportunities for speaking, listening and expressing themselves, and informal interaction are essential components of Early Childhood Education (ECE). .