On April 4, a group of children representing different regions of Tamil Nadu would meet the press in Chennai to spell out their manifesto. The manifesto brought under the banner of Federation of Children’s Movement for Right to Participation would essentially reiterate the basic rights they should enjoy as children but most often do not. They would make an old demand one more time: voices of children be given a hearing before schemes and policies are inked in for them.
Ahead of the big event, Chennai-based NGO Arunodhaya Centre for Street and Working Children maps out the details of the manifesto-drafting exercise. This exercise is conducted for not only Lok Sabha polls, but also Assembly and local-bodies elections.
This year, the preparations began in January and through several rounds of discussions, the manifesto was drafted. Children groups from 15 districts were involved.
“Just before the DMK manifesto was released, we made sure the children’s manifesto reached the manifesto committee at Anna Arivalayam,” says Virgil D. Sami, executive director Arunodhaya Centre for Street and Working Children and convenor of the facilitation task force. “This time, RTE finds a mention in the DMK manifesto and we are happy about it as we have been seeking that it be extended to all children up to 18 years.”
Many of their representations at the local level have been addressed.
“For instance, MLA from R.K. Nagar took to the state assembly a representation made by children on the need for a bridge in Ezhil Nagar. Because of the railway crossing, children were being late to school every morning. Construction of the bridge is now under way,” says Virgil.
A playground in Korrukupet was another demand made by children last year.
The exercise to collect wish lists by children evokes considerable participation. The group has found that many of the children have become aware of their rights. Says Virgil, “I have seen children lobbying with parents, insisting that they do not vote for money. There is clearly a discussion at home. A good number of inputs provided by children during the drafting of the manifesto are based on discussions at home.”
‘Children are influencers at home’
Building the children’s agenda works on this principle: children do not have a vote, but their parents do. Children aware of the children’s agenda can further it through their parents.
According to M.L. Alphonse Raj, state convenor, Forum for Promotion of Child Participation, children started presenting manifestos to political parties since the mid-2000s.
He says issues concerning children are significant and political parties must consider a separate segment while formulating their poll manifestos.
“At least in the Assembly elections, they are a powerful tool and many of the demands presented through these manifestos have been addressed in the past,” says Alphonse Raj.
But children’s manifestos must evolve. Currently, children’s groups representing Federation of Children’s Movement for Right to Participation also visit offices of political parties to hand over their demands in person.
“I wish to see political parties having consultations with children groups as this will increase trust and helps them understand issues better,” he says.
This year, one of the demands in the manifesto is that political leaders must give a report card every year on what they have achieved in their constituencies.
Another demand is about having a separate ministry for children (currently women and children are grouped as one) to take care of the basic rights of every child. Children have started presenting their grievances at Grama Sabha meetings.
Children’s parliament at Kannagi Nagar holds a session
Certain organisations working for child rights are sparing no effort to get children’s agenda to be reflected in political parties’ manifestos.
This exercise begins with building the children’s agenda. Among NGOs engaged in this exercise are The Concerned for Working Children, People’s Voice for Child Rights - Telangana State, Care India and Child Rights Trust.
There are other groups that are making a maiden attempt at highlighting what children expect from leaders. On March 23, a group of children belonging to the Neighbourhood Children Parliament at Kannagi Nagar met to prepare a wish list they can send to political leaders. Facilitated by NGOs Vidiyal Suder and SPAN, the group consisting of children in the age group of eight to 12 years wanted the concept of Neighbourhood Children Parliament to be adopted across India.
According to United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), children and youth have the right to be heard. They are directly affected what decisions leaders make in education, environment, child and social protection and urban planning, but are often excluded from the decision-making process.
“Listen to young people’s voices in the run-up to the election campaign and make space for them to express their vision for the municipality,” says a UNICEF blog post.
Have you signed this online petition?
We may not be voters, but we believe that the voices of children can be stronger than the votes of adults and it is necessary for us to speak up now to secure our future.
This is an excerpt from the “NINEISMINE” declaration that introduces one to this online petition by PRATYeK, a not-for-profit that has assisted in the drafting of the children’s manifesto in the past as well.
The Google form is an attempt to get one million children and their parents to sign up and prioritise the children’s manifesto, created by children across the country, a work that is under way for the last two years.
Besides touching upon health, education, rights, protection and development, the survey questions raises empathy among children.
In one of the questions, political parties and candidates are asked to devote one day each year to report to children, on the progress made in fulfilling child-centric promises. They have also sought a child-friendly online annual report with an interactive ongoing online system for children to give feedback and rate the progress based on the children’s own on-ground personal experiences.
Besides an English version, PRATYeK has brought out versions in Tamil, Telugu, Assamese, Kannada, Urdu and Bengali. At last count, the Assamese version, launched as a petition on Change.org, received more than 800 signatures.
The New Delhi-based NGO has six zonal offices (Guwahati, Kolkata, Bhopal, Bangalore, Mumbai and Ranchi) where it has begun to create awareness about signing the petition.
