Best foot forward

The nationwide campaign,to be launched on Children’s Day — November 14,aims at inviting citizens to sign a Child Rights Charter to the government. The Charter seeks three amendments to the Act that was passed by Parliament in August this year. The campaign will be carried out across 18 states with the help of CRY’s 200 grassroot NGOs in 6,700 villages and slums. In Maharashtra and Gujarat,events like street plays by kalapathaks (drama groups) will explain the Act and its implications in simple terms and motivate people to participate in the campaign.

CRY regional director Puja Marwaha said,“The Act has several gaps that will result in unequal access to this fundamental right of children. The upcoming winter session is an opportunity to ask the government to amend it and ensure that the benefits reach every child in the country.”

In Mumbai,the bus workshops and street plays will be held on November 14,15,21 and 22,wherein the buses will halt for an hour each at designated places. Along with workshops and drawing contests,the CRY volunteers will urge children and parents to sign the charter. And these designated places include Five Gardens in Wadala,Cheetah Camp in Mankhurd,Girgaum Chowpatty and Kannamwar Nagar in Vikhroli.

The Act states that the state should provide free education to all children aged 6-14. The charter demands that the group should be widened to include children aged 0-18. “Eighth grade pass-outs are in no way adequately qualified for any vocations. Similarly,nursery school is the foundation for education,without which even the primary education will be lost on the student,” CRY communications manager Priya Zutshi said.

The other amendments that the charter seeks include a raise in budgetary allocation for education and a public school with proper infrastructure and qualified teachers within 1 km of any habitation. The public expenditure on education has dropped from 4.19 per cent of the GDP in 2000 to 3.3 per cent of the GDP in 2008. “The Act is heavily underfunded as it aims to cater to 40 per cent of citizens. The amount has to be increased to at least 10 per cent of the total GDP,” Marwaha said.

The campaign will culminate on December 11,the day on which India ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. “We hope to collect half a million signatures from across India. The charter will be handed over to the President in the form of a book,” Zutshi said.