A Parliament session is in progress. But the MPs are not sitting in New Delhi. They are in the Chennai neighbourhood of Kannagi Nagar.
And they are all children.
16-year-old Jaya Prakash lost his father to alcoholism. At a young age, he was aware of the dangers of alcohol and drugs. Kannagi Nagar was once known to be a hotbed of drugs. However, now he is at the forefront of a movement to safeguard the neighbourhood from this menace.
Jaya Prakash is the Drugs Prohibition Minister of the Children’s Parliament here. As a minister, he has initiated several door-to-door campaigns talking about his life story as an example for other youngsters.
Not an unusual sight
A round table conference of children discussing concerns of the neighbourhood under the banner of the Children’s Parliament is not an unusual sight in Kannagi Nagar.
The children assign themselves portfolios and work for the welfare of their neighbourhood. There is a Prime Minister, Home Minister, Finance Minister and more.
The ministers have installed a board reading ‘Agents of Prevention of Drug Abuse’ with a vow to eliminate drugs. They put a garland on the board every two months.
“Those words on the board are in their blood. We are sure these children won’t get into ganja and other drugs,” says Arul Sahayam, founder of SPAN, a non-profit organisation that guides eight of the many active Children’s Parliaments in Kannagi Nagar. There are more than 50,000 Children’s Parliaments across India, under the guidance of several NGOs.
Ministers are elected following the principles of sociocracy. This is a governance system which doesn’t follow the traditional hierarchy system or top-down decision-making, but instead values the consent of the members rather than majority voting while making a decision.
“A single unit of the Children’s Parliament usually has 30 ministers and they are selected rather than elected through a consent-based decision-making panel,” says Gnanasekar Dhanapal, the 24-year-old Global Director of the Children’s Parliament. This means decisions are made when no member of the group has a relevant objection.
"They don’t use ballots and paper during the process. Children propose their interest to hold a particular portfolio and get elected if there are no objections from the circle members," he said.
Inspired by sociocracy and neighbourocracy
The Children’s Parliament is an initiative by Father Edwin Maria John, a priest from Nagercoil, and Joseph Rathinam. Their interest in the ideas of sociocracy, inspired by Dutch entrepreneur Gerard Endenburg, and neighbourocracy -- a governance model which emphasises community-level decision-making, focusing specifically on neighbourhoods -- led to the beginnings of this initiative in 1995.
Sociocracy emphasises equality. “We teach children to be sociocratic. Democratic dialogues are divisive while sociocracy is inclusive,” says Arul Sahayam. “Sociocracy means that the truth lies with everyone, hence we value everyone’s opinion while making a decision,” he added.
Initially backed by UNICEF, the Children’s Parliament was awarded the San Marino Alexander Bodini Award for the ‘world’s best child-led organisation for child rights actions’ by the UN in 2009.
This Children’s Parliament in Kannagi Nagar comprises a group of 25 ministers. They gather together every Saturday evening around 6.30 pm under the streetlights of Ambedkar Iravu Padasalai.
As the 70th Parliamentary session began, they took an oath recited by the sixteen-year-old Prime Minister Rithikashri V. This was followed by a hearty handshake with her fellow ministers, appreciating their efforts in the Parliament.
Preparations for the upcoming Children’s Day celebration were one of the topics of discussion for the day. The Prime Minister proposed a puppet show under the guidance of puppet master Thomas L, who gives free classes at Muthal Thalaimurai Trust, an NGO.
The proposal was passed unanimously by the ministers who said ‘entha aatcheyapanai illae’ (no objection). A proposal is approved once the whole circle of the Parliament gives the ‘no objection’ pass.
"Ministers in the Parliament represent 30 families living in a single neighbourhood. Their agenda is to discuss problems concerning their neighbourhood and not of other circles," says Arul Sahayam. The children living in the neighbouring two-storeyed buildings form a single unit and discuss their problems, he added.
This approach aligns with sociocracy’s principles of decentralizing decision-making authority to the most local levels and ensuring that decisions are made by those most affected by them.
In 36 countries
There are active units of the Children’s Parliament under the guidance of Gnanasekar in 36 countries. A parliamentarian for 16 years, Gnanasekar is also the founder and CEO of ‘Governance Magnify’ which promotes children’s participatory governance as part of the Children’s Parliament network in foreign countries.
He started his journey with the Children’s Parliament when he was a nine-year-old from a village called Nagadhasampatti in Dharmapuri district. He later held the post of district level Education Minister, Tamil Nadu state-level PM and deputy PM of the national-level Children’s Parliament.
His Parliament in Dharmapuri established the world’s first library for rural children with 10,000 books, stopped 247 child marriages and rescued 16 bonded labourers in the last 10 years, bringing them back to school.
Gnanasekar was a victim of caste politics and was driven to engage in social work at a young age.
“The founders of the Children’s Parliament approached me in 2008 when I was doing social work in my village and since then I have been a part of the team,” he said.
His life story has been featured in the German documentary Power to the Children directed by Anna Kersting. The documentary was screened at the International Children Film Festival of Kerala (ICFFK) in 2019.
The ministers undergo functional training and life skills training before being a part of the Parliament. The activities of the ministers extend outside the neighbourhood circle. They do podcasts and interview people in top posts. “We got an opportunity to take part in the Tamil Nadu budget session in 2012,” said Gnanasekar.
Towards the end of the 70th Parliamentary session, the Prime Minister, who also holds the post of Finance Minister, discussed the state of finances.
“We got a good collection today of Rs 160,” read out Rithikashri, adding that their usual collection for a week is Rs 50. She said she was going to contribute Rs 20 to the fund. 12-year-old External Affairs Minister Divesh V also pitched in with Rs 2, bringing the total collection for the week to Rs 182.
The ministers pitch in their savings every week and also go to houses in the neighbourhood, collecting empty plastic milk covers and contributing the money received to the Parliament. They also receive money from visitors and volunteers which is used for the welfare of the neighbourhood.
“We brought clothes and food for a sick grandfather last Diwali,” said 12-year-old Home Minister Gracy L. The ministers' collective efforts resulted in a zebra crossing here. Besides, they took the initiative to list out employment opportunities for unemployed adults in their neighbourhood.
The ministers also lead door-to-door campaigns to create awareness on eco-friendly initiatives such as replacing plastic bottles with steel and planting trees.
Education Minister Manoj spoke about how he conducted door-to-door visits and convinced the children in the neighbourhood to attend school.
“Implementing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) locally is one of our goals in this Parliament,” says Arul Sahayam. He wants to ensure that SDGs are administered both at neighbourhood and community levels through children. One of the SDGs the children have achieved is to eradicate hunger in their neighbourhood. They connect the food donors and volunteers and make sure no family goes to bed hungry, said Arul.
“Our Human Relationship Minister takes note of marriage anniversaries of couples in the neighbourhood, gathers the children to cut a cake and celebrate,” said Arul Sahayam. This initiative grabbed the attention of adults and so we also started a Parliament for them in the neighbourhood with a similar structure, he said.
“We are sure that after 100 years, the sociocratic and neighbourocratic structure will be built horizontally and vertically throughout the world,” said Arul Sahayam. As Ambedkar did, we want to envision the changes that we can bring about after 100 years and become a model throughout India, he added.