Gujarat: Include child rights in poll manifesto, parties told

The activists also demanded children’s representation in school management committees and offering employment provision in villages to stop migration.

“Any political party or government will say that most of these demands have already been met, but then they themselves admit that they exist only on papers. For instance, the demand for school playground, library and computer laboratory in each village or ensuring safety of children by installing CCTV cameras in schools is already there, but the ground reality is different. We all know that these labs and libraries are either locked or exist only on papers, and the CCTV cameras are not functional,” said Rajesh Bhat, convenor of CRCG.

Further, the CRCG said that they have been requesting the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) to incorporate steps for awareness towards child helpline in schools. “We have requested the SCPCR to follow what states like Tamil Nadu have implemented. It has added a page with detailed information on child helpline in their textbooks. This will not take any additional costs, but nothing has been done so far,” said Vipul Pandya of Bandhkam Mazdoor Sangathan, one of the associate organisations of the CRCG.

Some of the children at the workshop demanded nutritious meal under the mid-day meal scheme in schools. “We are only served dal and rice, and most of the times only rice,” a student from village in Patdi taluka in Surendranagar district said. While another from Jamnagar district complained that mid-day meal is infested with insects most of the time. A student of Dhrangadra from Surendranagar said that children are subjected to discrimination in seating when mid-day meal is served.

BJP spokesperson Jagdish Bhavsar, who visited the workshop on Sunday and with whom the manifesto was shared, said, “We will work on the child rights policy demand, and try to incorporate it in the manifesto.”