Young representatives of 125 ‘children and adolescent collectives’ of Khandapada Assembly segment in Nayagarh district of Odisha have requested the authorities to allow them to formally participate in the upcoming ‘gram sabha’ meetings on October 2 to discuss issues related to them.
Sarpanchs of seven panchayats -- Jogiapalli, Benagadia, Rakama, Ranipada, Salapada, Bodasa -- have already agreed to this proposal. Child leaders hope that in coming few days, sarpanchs of all the 40 panchayats of this Assembly constituency would agree to their proposal.
Khandapada Assembly constituency is being transformed into first child-friendly constituency in Odisha through a project taken up jointly by UNICEF, local district administration and social organisation Youth for Social Development (YSD). Khandapada MLA Anubhav Patnaik leads the project. The YSD for the first time in Odisha had successfully experimented with child club project in urban slums of Berhampur with an aim to make children initiator of social change. The same experiment is being replicated in rural areas of Khandapada for the first time.
According to Ratneswar Sahu of YSD, 4,204 members of 125 ‘children and adolescent collectives’ of the area have already identified issues and problems pertaining to children of their area through simple social and resource mapping tools.
They have already held special meetings with their elected representatives and service providers and have also provided suggestions to solve the problems. In some panchayats they have drawn attention of local sarpanch to allocate special funds in the budget for children.
They have already held meetings with 185 local elected representatives and officials for the purpose.
“October 2 gramsabha would be a major confidence booster to them,” said social activist Bibhu Prasad Sahu who is involved in grooming these children and adolescents.
The issues being taken up are mainly related to the development and protection of children in rural areas.
They have also achieved small successes that include installation of much-needed tubewells in five villages through persuasion.
Due to the efforts by these children and adolescents, 44 children who were not attending schools or were too irregular in attendance have started to attend school regularly. They are also trying to influence their elders against social evils like child marriage and open air defecation.
At several villages these children are asking their parents to approach local panchayat office for financial assistance to build toilets in their houses. As part of their club activity, they are also learning to improve their health and maintain personal hygiene.
