Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Building a child-friendly panchayat

Anasuya Menon

Bala Sabhas to be launched in six panchayats in Coimbatore Bala Sabhas to be launched in six panchayats in the district

CHILDREN'S WORLD: A child honouring Naresh Gupta, Chief Electoral Officer, at the launch of Bala Sabha in the city on Thursday. Kezevino Aram, Director of Shanti Ashram, looks on. - Photo: S. Siva Saravanan

COIMBATORE: Welfare of vulnerable sections of society such as women and children is the top priority of any Government, said Naresh Gupta, Chief Electoral Officer, here on Thursday. At the launch of Bala Sabha - a child-friendly panchayat programme, he said that the initiative would set in motion a transformation of our villages.

By involving the local bodies a third tier of governance could be evolved, he said. "For preserving the essence of democracy, local self-governance is necessary."

Child mortality

While child mortality was still prevalent in the country, initiatives such as the Bala Sabha should try and adopt measures to ensure full immunisation, access to pre-school facility, make education available to each child and abolish corporal punishment in schools.

Mr. Gupta urged the panchayat and municipality councillors to ensure that no girl child got married before the age of 18. "If all these schemes are implemented, we can bring about a transformation," he said.

Led by Shanti Ashram, Bala Sabhas would be launched in six panchayats in Coimbatore district.

Organised in coordination with panchayat leaders, local health and educational institutions, women's self-help groups, children's and youth groups, parent-teacher associations and non-Governmental Organisations working for child development, they aim to forge a bond between children and the local governing body.

UNICEF support

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) would support this pilot project. Elaborating the concept of Bala Sabha, Thomas George, Communications Officer, UNICEF Office for Tamil Nadu and Kerala, said that such initiatives gave a structured forum for children to voice their thoughts and put them across to the community leaders and elders. "Issues concerning children, especially cases of abuse, came out only in group forums such as these," he pointed out. The project would be an ideal way to encourage children to voice their problems and seek solutions. "Without the involvement of the local community, results cannot be achieved," he remarked.

Krishnagiri selected

UNICEF had launched a project in 16 districts in India to map out the issues concerning children. In Tamil Nadu, they had selected Krishnagiri district.

Mr. George observed that local village data was more useful than State data to take stock of issues of children. Stating that the resources available at the local level were more powerful, he urged the gathering to tap the potential of rural areas.

"This child friendly panchayat should be a model for others," he said. Also, all the six panchayats in which the project would be launched could be networked with other states in order to facilitate sharing of ideas.

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