India has 375 million children, more than any other country in the world. Their condition has improved in the last five decades, with child survival rates up, dropout rates down, and several policy commitments made by the government at the national and international levels. Resource allocations by the State, however, remain quite inadequate to take care of the survival and healthcare needs of infants and children, their education, development and protection. India has made some significant commitments towards ensuring the basic rights of children. There has been progress in overall indicators: infant mortality rates are down, child survival is up literacy rates have improved and school dropout rates have fallen. But the issue of Child Rights in India is still caught between legal and policy commitments to children on the one hand, and the fallout of the process of globalization on the other. With State support to the social sector being systematically reduced, more than 360 million people, about 36 per cent of the population (1999-2000 statistics) are living below the poverty line, though the government's latest estimates put this figure at 26 per cent.