A group of underprivileged school students from Kolkata and nearby areas discussed the issues that concern them and put forth a set of demands to West Bengal Minister for Women and Child Development and Social Welfare and top officials of the department during an interactive session in Kolkata on 18th November.
As part of a programme on the theme ‘Listen to the Future’ facilitated by UNICEF to uphold child rights and commemorate World Children’s Day, the students met the minister and talked about government schemes meant for them and put forward demands to safeguard their rights.
Listening to the Special Meeting attended by Child Speakers, Dr Shashi Panja gained first-hand information about the present state of schemes like Kanyashree Prakalpa, Sabuj Sathi, anganwadi, mid-day meal, iron and folic acid tablet consumption, child helpline, safety and security of children and about children with disability, their access and facilities, interaction with peers and service providers, specially the speech and hearing impaired.
Parveen Sultana (name changed) who is a class-XI student and Kanyashree Club member, requested the officials to change the days for holding the meetings of Child Protection Committees to Saturday afternoon or Sundays as many children miss the meetings for being in the school on weekdays.
“You may request the local Child Protection Committees formed by the department to set a time which suits you,” Dr Panja said.
The minister and other officials promised to take steps to include text messaging facility to 1098 helpline number to lodge complaints about violence on children when Shagufta (name changed), a hearing impaired girl, brought this to their notice. Now one can only make calls to 1098 helpline number.
Calling them growing young adults, Dr Panja also urged the children to make their friends and classmates aware of their rights and the benefits of government schemes meant for them.
Exuding confidence and hope in the children at the meeting held in the run up to the World Children’s Day, Dr Monjur Hossain, Chief of UNICEF in West Bengal, said, “My realisation from this interaction has been that many welfare issues of children which are yet to come to our mind have already been discussed by them. UNICEF will create opportunities for children to voice their views and help make better decisions with their participation.”
He also mentioned about a recent interaction with rural and urban school children of Murshidabad district where they voiced concerns on local issues like child marriage, mental health issue, climate change and its impact on their lives.
Principal Secretary of the department Sanghamitra Ghosh was also present at the interactive session with the children in Kolkata.
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