HYDERABAD: It’s better to give voting rights to children, experts say with a tinge of sarcasm, as it seems it is the only solution to make political parties address the concerns of children. When almost 35 percent of the population in Telangana belongs to 0-18-year-old children, none of the prominent political parties in Telangana has featured any aspect related to children in their political manifestos. Ironically, those who have no right to vote and no mention in the manifesto, are the easy target to use in the election campaigning. People’s Voice for Child Rights - Telangana State (PVCR- TS), an alliance of different people working for child rights from each district of the State, submitted a list of child-specific demands to BJP, BRS, and Congress, the three major political parties on Sunday. No tangible response was received by any of them, said Dr K Subhash, State General Secretary of PVCR.
“K Venkateshwaralu who is the secretary of the manifesto drafting committee in BJP said that the party has already released its manifesto for the State elections. He promised that the demands will be taken into consideration during the Lok Sabha elections next year,” Subhash said. He added that both the Congress and the BRS mention nothing about adding anything in their manifestos. The Congress party said that they would try to implement these demands once in power.
“The conclusion of the 30-minute discussion with Congress was that Karnataka’s Manifesto is used in Telangana,” Subhash said. Whereas, he added, BRS manifesto drafting committee members who were reluctant to share their names, said that their government is already implementing a lot of schemes for children. BRS has included the adoption of orphan children in its manifesto. However, the initiative is not exclusive to the manifesto as it was announced back in August.
“The list of demands was submitted only after studying and identifying gaps in manifestos of all the parties,” Subhash said. As political parties published their manifestos late this time, there was not much space for the forum to give and add suggestions. Since 2009, PVCR has been submitting a Child Rights manifesto to all political parties. It is disappointing for them that even during these elections, no political party has any prominent point pertaining to children in their manifestos barring one or two parties. Among all the parties, only the Communist Party of India in their manifesto has promised to allocate 20% of the state budget for children, universalization of the Right to Education Act for students aged 3-18 years, and implement the common school system; all of these have also been included in the PVCR’s demands. Other demands of PVCR include a state-level plan of action to tackle increasing child marriage cases, transport facilities to go to schools, and monthly health checkups in schools. It addresses the need for a state-level policy for children. Something like ‘Child Bandhu’ on the lines of Rythu Bandhu, Dalit Bandhu.
Malnutrition in children is another big issue that nobody wants to address. Congress promised financial support via schemes and scholarships for college students and Ph.D. holders. But if No one cares about dropping out at the primary level and giving incentives to overcome that. Similarly, Congress announced free travel for women in TSRTC buses across the state which can be implemented for children as well. Furthermore, Subhash said that caste-based residential schools are already ghettoizing children, BRS’s agenda is to establish it for supper caste poor will add more fuel, Subhash said. Additionally, the Special Educators Forum India has brought attention to various critical issues that require consideration from political parties during this election season.
These include the elimination of the Teacher Pupil Ratio and the appointment of at least one teacher for every class. “The education budget needs to be at least 20 percent,” said Kalpagiri, national convenor of SEFI. He stressed the need for recruitment every six months, staffing for administrative roles (MEO, Dy. EO, DEO, AD, RJD, JD, etc.) at all levels, permanent staff allocation at SCERT, the establishment of a vigilance department in the education department for periodic education evaluations, abolition of Teacher Unions/Associations except those recognized by the government, and addressing the transition rate.
Using children in campaigning
Even though the Telangana State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has clearly reiterated the earlier directions issued by the Election Commission of India to ensure that all the political parties and election officials that the children should not be involved in any election-related process or activity, children are getting dragged from some way or the other. “Just like adults are being wooed with liquor for votes, children are being used for different work by offering cold drinks and snacks in my area,” said a child rights worker who does not want to be identified.