Delhi child Rights Club interaction with a cross section of counselors

Today Wednesday 11 Sept  more than 60 children from 17 member organizations of Delhi child Rights Club (started by Butterflies) had an interaction with a cross section of counselors from all there municipal corporations covering Delhi. Mr Rakesh kumar, MCD councilor, Smt Susheela Bagchi MCD Councilor, Sultanpuri east, Mr Rajukumar Dhillon chairman Shahdra zone, Mr. Imran Hussain deputy chairman city zone, Mr Aaley mhd. Iqbal chairman city zone and Suman Kumar Gupta were present during the discussions.      

DCRC is the only club, initiated by Butterflies, of its kind in Delhi where children are the only members. Members of the club meet at least once a month to discuss issues concerning them and to build their capacities in documenting and analyzing social situation they are living in.

During the last meeting children were introduced to Photography and journalism, following the session many children took pictures of appalling civic conditions in the wards they are living in . The scope of this project was expanded to cover all the wards children are living in. Supported by adult focal persons from the member organizations, children concentrated on the following issues during their survey.

1: Education, 2: Health, 3: Child protection and safety, 4: Social Evils & 5: Civic amenities.

Their findings reveal abject neglect and complete absence of any quality in infrastructural conditions of schools, non availability of play grounds, lack of libraries and computer education. Children also mentioned use of corporal punishment by teachers and caste based discrimination.

City Zone chairman Mr Aaley mhd. Iqbal  said “ We need to strike down the difference between a government school and a private school student. We are trying to change that and will make sure we accommodate everything that we have heard today. We would like to change the face of government education and would like to partner with organizations like you to raise the level of education and amenities in our schools”

Their findings in the area of health are positive; all children noted the presence of Primary health care centers in their wards and also mentioned that the services are completely free of cost. On the issue of child protection and safety all children mentioned that they are scared of approaching the police and that their parents are not comfortable with them playing for long hours or at far away distances from their homes.

“Absence of clean water, furniture and playgrounds in schools is very alarming. Lack of goodwill of government schools and quality of education delivered by them has to be strengthened. We will sit on all the issues addressed today and continue our efforts to make the system efficient” said Mr Rakesh Kumar MCD Councilor North.  

Adding to this Smt Susheela Bagchi, MCD Councilor Sultanpuri east said “It is our mandate to provide a cleaner and watchman for every school so that safety and cleanliness are kept in account. Problems and solutions lie within us, I feel it is really necessary that such dialogues are organized regularly so that we are made aware of our own shortcomings”

Children also mentioned of the presence of stray animals and their fear of getting bitten by them. Availability of cigarettes, tobacco products and even alcohol around the school has been a major concern for them.  They also noted the presence of large warning against the sale of such products in front of all these stores but still large population still availing their services.

“If children are aware, the country is aware. If children are educated so is our country. It is very important that we understand that we stay away from things that harm us. I encourage you to meet the councilors every month so that there is constant dialogue between all of us and we are held accountable for everything” said Raj Kumar Dhillon , MCD Shahdra zone chairman.

Deputy chairman city zone Mr Imran Hussain said “We will help you at every step to make the environment safe, clean and comfortable for all the residents. Educational facilities will be our top priority”

Children also noted the presence of social evils such as child marriages, child labor and abuse.By the end of the meeting children felt involved in the entire process of town planning and they are hopeful of redressal of many of their issues. It was also decided that a similar meeting would be called for once every six months to keep a check and to enable counselors to understand the perspective of children