Karnataka - Bangalore   

Children’s poll first, then Assembly polls

Bangalore: Children may not be eligible to vote in the coming Assembly elections, but a children’s poll being conducted by the Campaign Against Child Labour (CACL) will have them telling the netas what they expect from them when in power.

CACL, a confederation of non-governmental organisations working on child’s rights issues, is conducting a children’s opinion poll in all districts of Karnataka, covering over 10,000 children.

Speaking to presspersons here on Tuesday, Vasudev Sharma of Child Rights Trust said that children will be given a questionnaire which will allow them to express their opinion on issues of health, education and so on, besides those that concern their specific town or village. The poll is currently being field-tested and will take off next week. It will be completed before April 25, said Mr. Sharma. The results will be tabulated and sent to not only political parties, but also candidates in specific constituencies.

CACL has also drafted a set of child-related issues that should be on the agenda of all political parties, including those related to education, health and child labour. Among them are demands for setting up of a State commission for child’s rights on the lines of the Human Rights Commission, amendment of Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act (1986) to cover all children below 18, and a comprehensive law on trafficking of children, said Matthews Philip South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring (SICHREM). He added that though child labour was included in the manifestos in the last elections, little else about children was included.

Lakshapathi P. of the Association for Promotion of Social Action (APSA) said that several existing child-related plans and projects were not being implemented properly. Citing an example, he said that money collected as fine from employers of child labourers (Rs. 20,000 each) was not being used to rehabilitate them resulting in crores of rupees lying unused in different district centres, he added.

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