Students at Government Higher Primary School, Baiyappanahalli, Sidlaghatta, in Chickballapur district, take pride in their clean campus and functional classrooms. But this wasn’t always the case. Last year, they had to deal with dogs, cows and sheep straying into their classrooms. The premises that does not have a compound wall was littered with tobacco packets and arrack bottles discarded by passers-by.
Madhu B.S., a Standard VII student of the school, raised the issue at last year’s Makkala Gram Sabha. Two months ago, with the help of the Dibburhalli Gram Panchayat, students shifted to a temporary building as work on the compound wall began.
Across Karnataka, hundreds of children like Madhu have brought in change by approaching authorities and following up on problems either in their schools or villages. They’ve been doing so by voicing their concerns at Makkala Gram Sabhas. These were started in 2006 by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, however, it was only in 2015 that they were made mandatory. Gram panchayat members have to conduct the sabhas every November.
Speaking of how the idea was conceived, Vasudev Sharma, Executive Director, Child Rights Trust, said, “Between 2003 and 2006, we worked in 15 GPs in three taluks in Ballari district. We found that they had no data pertaining to children. We later published panchayat report cards and put out some child development indicators which forced the authorities to take note. We also conducted gram sabhas in some of the GPs in this district,” he said.
Other achievements
Makkala Gram Sabhas are also attended by village residents, anganawadi workers, teachers, health workers and the police. Children follow up with their GP offices. Thanks to their efforts, some district schools now have better infrastructure and others have adopted more robust child protection measures. Also, students have access to toilets and village streets are well lit. According to Mr. Sharma, there have been instances where children have unearthed corruption in works undertaken by local authorities.
Padmavathi Raghavendra, a Standard VII student of Government Higher Primary School, Sangapur, Gangavati taluk, Koppal district, at last year’s sabha said their campus did not have any plants. Following this, local authorities gave the school 50 saplings. “We now water the saplings every day and the atmosphere in the school is more pleasant,” she said.
Another student of the same school, Ayub Attar, a Standard VIII student, said they had no playground as there was no level playing field. The GP ensured that the ground was levelled and developed a playground. “We now play several sports like volleyball, kabbadi and kho-kho every day,” he said.
