Bengaluru: Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Eshwar B Khandre has directed that a Children’s Gram Sabha be held to introduce children to the idea of the gram panchayat, in the run-up to Children’s Day on November 14, the birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
In a written instruction to the department’s Principal Secretary, the minister noted that the Women and Child Development Department and the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department had issued a circular as far back as 2006 asking for Children’s Gram Sabhas, yet they are held in only a few panchayats. He has asked that the programme be organised in every gram panchayat, compulsorily, from this year.
What children should learn
- How a gram panchayat works.
- Children’s rights, nutrition, education and health.
- The importance of sanitation, water conservation, lake conservation and environmental protection in an era of global warming.
Model village at Jakkur
Khandre noted that children of convent schools in Bengaluru have no idea what a village looks like. In his note, he asked that a Children’s Gram Sabha also be held from November 13 to 30 in the heritage model village on the premises of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Energy and Development Institute at Jakkur in Bengaluru, with children from various schools given a chance to take part.
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