CHENNAI : A campaign to put the rights of young children on the agenda of the local body elections was taken up by the Tamil Nadu Forum for Crèche and Childcare Services (TN-FORCES) across the state.

Pushing for decentralisation of child care, the network of more than 100 organisations asked political parties to provide local bodies with the responsibility of implementing childcare services and allocate 15 per cent of the funds of State Assembly and local body members towards construction of anganwadi buildings.

Infrastructure

"The creation of infrastructure and the monitoring of child care services is performed at the local level in any case.

Around 40 per cent of the development funds of Members of the Legislative Assembly are spent on providing residential facilities like Adi Dravida Hostels and the rest depends on their discretion.

Only 0.8 per cent of the State's GDP is spent on early child care," said K. Shanmugavelayutham, convenor, TN-Forces.

The network campaigned in Cuddalore, Trichy, Kancheepuram, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Chennai among voters and candidates from when elections were announced. The TN-FORCES also distributed pamphlets urging greater participation of the community in the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). Programmes were organised with NGOs, SHGs and anganwadi workers to raise awareness on child rights.

Demands

The demands put forward to the contesting political parties, candidates and voters included the protection of rights of children below the age of six, compulsory admitting of three to five year olds in Nursery school, providing basic sanitary and drinking water facilities at anganwadis and close monitoring of the procedures of child adoption and institutions offering children for adoption.

The list of demands included ensuring that mothers are given their maternity entitlements, providing mobile crèche facilities to migrant labourers as well as making child trafficking an offence.

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