Child
Rights Special Grama Sabhas – A new step in
Karnataka for rooting
implementation of Child Rights.
‘It
is the prime duty of every Grama Panchayat to uphold the rights of
every child in their jurisdiction’ Mr.Jagadish Shetter, Minister
for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, Government of Karnataka was
responding to the queries by media personnel on 18th Feb. 2012 at
Dharawada. He was there to address the congregation of about 150
representatives from Grama Panchayats across the state with respect
to Child Rights Special Grama Sabhas. A media representative asked
the minister, whether conducting such Grama Sabhas cantered on child
rights issues is compulsory or not. The minister was visibly amused
about it. He said, ‘the issue of whether it is compulsory or not
doesn’t arise, when you get a circular issued by RDPR to all the
Panchayats that in the interest of your own children, for giving the
children an opportunity to express their difficulties and for the
Panchayats to take stock of the situation of children in their
working area, we see Grama Panchayats taking the task whole
heartedly. I am sure next you will ask how many have conducted these
special grama sabhas. Well it is a fact that not all have conducted
these special grama sabhas. Our reports show that around 3,000 and
odd grama panchayata have taken this serious in the current year and
have conducted Child Rights Special Grama Sabhas’.
Later
on Mr.Jagadish Shetter addressed the delegates comprising of Grama
Panchayats Presidents, Vice Presidents, members, PDO-Panchayat
Development Officers, NGOs and media on the importance of upholding
survival, protection, development and participation rights of
children. He shared with the group that the development goals set by
the international and national bodies have to be achieved at the
bottom most rung, i.e., villages. He rightly pointed out that Grama
Panchayats have begun to look at the development needs of children
and plan accordingly in coordination with other service providers at
village level. For the suggestions made by the participants on making
this special grama sabhas a part of the Act and also
institutionalising the panchayats systems to take call on children,
the minister said that the government will take them seriously and
discuss with the concerned.
* * *
18th
Feb. 2012 is a great day in the history of child rights movement as
far as we are concerned. The programme held at Dharawada with the
Government taking a lead role, and we supporting it is one of the
mile stones of the journey that began way back in 2003 by CRT-Child
Rights Trust. The vision of making panchayats accountable to the
status of children was initiated with a humble exercise of collecting
basic information about children and the services available to
children at a few villages. The strategy was discussing with the
Grama Panchayats as what they know about children in their vicinity –
numbers, disaggregated data about children, disability, schooling,
anganawadi system, birth and death numbers, nutrition, missing
children, child marriages, services in anganawadi, child labour,
orphan and destitues, PHC, etc., and finally giving a report with
interpretations. Several interviews conducted in about 15 panchayats
in three taluks of Bellary district (Hagaribommana halli, Kudlili and
Bellary taluk) revealed that panchayats have little or no knowledge
about the affairs of children.
Without
offending the situation, CRT began a tedious and elongated survey on
secondary data about children by approaching Anganawadi workers,
ANMs, schools, panchyats, public distribution system, police, etc. By
2006 CRT could evolve a methodology of collecting basic data from
secondary sources and prepare a comprehensive report about the status
of children at panchayat level. This was not a cake walk. We had to
struggle a lot to extract or get information from the service
providers. The reports were extensively discussed at the panchayat
level in the presence of all the service providers, panchyat elected
representatives, CBOs and NGOs. Many panchayats took it very
seriously and tried to set up some corrective measures at service
level. A series of articles were published in the official news
magazine of RDPR on child rights and the need for child rights
special grama sabhas. Other media, both print and electronic, carried
several articles, reports on the new initiative.
This
experience we thought should be shared at the level of State
Government. In the month of August 2006 we presented our experience
in the presence of Mr.Baligar, IAS, Secretary to Government, RDPR GOK
and his officers. After a long discussion, the Secretary was
convinced that Child rights is an issue to be addressed by RDPR. The
meeting concluded with a decision that every grama panchyats would be
directed to conduct Child Rights Special Grama Sabhas. What is
followed is a circular issued by the Government in September 2006.
The circular though a brief one gave a clear message to all the
concerned that Child Rights Special Grama Sabhas should be conducted
to review the situation of children, particularly with respect to
protection, health, education and well being.
The
whole idea of Child Rights Special Grama Sabhas wherein the adult
members of panchayats and the service providers take stock of the
situation of children and also children taking part in the meetings
to air their concerns soon caught the imagination of several groups
including NGOs and media and Government officials. A few results,
though very small in the eyes of adults (!) like getting play ground
cleaned, providing compound to the school building, drinking water
supply, getting the school at the right time, conducting a disability
survey, providing rent to anganawadi, instructing the hooligans to
keep away from school premises, etc., were very dramatic. ‘I never
thought that these are issues that are bothering our children’ said
P.Narayanappa the President of Ramasagara Grama Panchayat, Hospet
Taluk, Bellary, ‘I had not noticed these as problems at all, I
understand now and will take immediate action’.
CRT
prepared a comprehensive primer on Child Rights special Grama Sabhas
and a data collection format as well data displaying poster. We also
joined hands with SIRD-State Institute for Rural Development, Mysore
and conducted a series of TOT (2007 and 2008) to prepare resource
persons to disseminate the idea. A few model Child Rights Special
Grama Sabhas were conducted at Mysore and Dharawada with the
participation of GPs, NGOs and RDPR.
What
became very significant in the subsequent years is that the
Government circular instructing the Zilla Panchayts to appoint nodal
officers to every Grama Panchayats to oversee the conduct of Child
Rights Special Grama Sabhas. Circulars in the year 2007 and 2009
recorded that the Grama Panchayats should record the resolutions and
sent action take reports to RDPR. Education Department included the
instructions given by RDPR to conduct child rights special grama
sabhas in their quarterly time table. DWCD deputed officers to take
note of the recommendations arise out of these special grama sabhas.
RDPR issued advertisements in newspapers and All India Radio (AIR)
carried regular jingles and a skit encouraging people to participate
in this special Grama Sabha. Children in large numbers took part in
these meetings and experienced what is real participation is. CRT was
invited by the NCPCR to share the experiences in a national meet on
children and the role of panchayats. Media took the issue and the
idea and wrote extensively not only about the success of such grama
sabhas but also on those who are not conducting or neglecting the
idea.
In
Nov. 2011 another mile stone was achieved. The Ministers for RDPR and
DWCD jointly conducted a press conference to announce the launch of
Child Rights Special Grama Sabhas for teyear. CRT played the role of
catalysts and supported the initiative. Dr. Amitha Prasad, IAS,
Principal Secretary to RDPR and Dr.Shalini Rajnish, IAS, Secretary to
Government, RDPR has taken the idea of child Rights Special Grama
Sabha on a mission mood and are persuading the concerned officers to
take the grama sabhas seriously.
We at
CRT are getting a lot of queries on the modalities of conducting the
child rights special grama sabha. What we notice is that some might
have conducted these very important grama sabha for the name sake and
have not achieved anything and others who have found the result of
the idea.
In the
year 2012 CRT brought out a collection of success stories of
conducted child rights special grama sabha with contributions from
various organisations. The book has the foreword by Mr.Jagadish
Shetter, Minister for RDPR, GOK and was released by him at Dharawada
in the month of Feb. 2012 in the midst of GP representatives. It is a
result of the network activities of CRT with various NGO partners
spread out in Karnataka.
We at
CRT thank EveryChild for the continued support while experimenting
with the idea. EveryChild also stood with us in this long term
experiment that grew stronger from year to year. The idea seed
generated by an NGO after a long field experiment is now part of the
Government system. The work involved a lot of patience, perseverance,
research, follow up, documentation, hand holding and networking,
lobbying with the Government and also advocating for adopting the
idea from child rights perspective. The future of child rights
implementation is bright now (with continued follow up) as it is now
rooted at real grassroots level.
We are
now hopeful of RDPR scheduling Child Rights Special Grama Sabha in
the calendar of the department.
