Child Rights Grama Sabha” is an important tool to uphold child rights of rural children
Child Rights Trust organized “State Level Consultation on Effectiveness of Child Rights Grama Sabha jointly with Karnataka Panchayat Raj Commissionerate and Educo organization on 18th September 2024 at Bengaluru.

Mrs.Nagaveni, Deputy Director, Karnataka Panchayat Raj Commission; Mr. Venkatesh, Member of the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights; Mr.Guruprasad, Country Director of Educo; Dr. Vasudeva Sharma, Executive Director of Child Rights Trust; Presidents of various Grama Panchayats along with child representatives of Child Rights Clubs inaugurated the consultation by releasing the book “Child Rights Grama Sabhas – Success Stories 2”.

Child Rights Trust, Benglauru, in association with Educo, Spain, has implemented the project ‘Children in Governance’ in 108 Grama Panchayats of 11 Taluks in four selected districts of the state (Bellari, Chikkaballapur, Gadag and Dakshina Kannada) through an agreement with the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Government of Karnataka. In the consultation various grama panchayats presidents, elected members, PDOs and service providers such as anganwadi worker, teachers, NGO representatives, child representatives from child rights clubs, media representatives participated and discussed effectively on the process of Child Rights Grama Sabhas, its effectiveness and the futuristic ideas for the application of this instrument.

Participants of the consultation also discussed organizing Child Rights Grama Sabhas effectively that include proper planning on organzing this special meeting, involving all the concerned departments and also by giving appropriate representation to children from all kinds of backgrounds. The delegates in the consultation suggested to the Govt to issue fresh circulars every year to the Grama Panchayats in the month of September itself to initiate planning meetings at the district, taluk and Grama Panchayat level for the Child Rights Grama Sabhas. They insisted that it would help in developing year plans with a budget, for both soft and hard (including infrastructure) giving more space to children’s voices to express their concerns and responding to the demands raised by both the children and the community in the interest of the children. This consultation in an unified voice said that such a procedure of planning, execution, monitoring and follow up will certainly help in upholding the rights of the rural children.

The consultation with active participation of about 80 members from across the state, who had experienced the process of Child Rights Clubs and Child Rights Grama Sabhas gave practical insights and suggestions for the effective implementation of this innovative idea in an effective manner in the coming days with appropriate participation of both Govt and the communities.