Children’s Day 2025: History, significance of Bal Diwas; Why do we celebrate on Jawaharlal Nehru’s birthday

In India, Children’s Day is celebrated on November 14 every year to commemorate Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth anniversary. The day serves as a reminder to protect and nurture children, ensuring their rights to education, health, and happiness.

Nehru was fondly known as “Chacha Nehru (Uncle Nehru).” He was loved by children and believed that the future of a nation depends on the way it nurtures its young minds.

On this day, across India, schools and educational institutions celebrate the day with enthusiasm, creativity, and motivational programmes. Students participate in cultural programmes, debates, sports events, and art competitions, while teachers often take on entertaining roles to make the day memorable for students.

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Many schools also organise special assemblies and awareness campaigns highlighting children’s rights and the importance of education in building a brighter future.

Children’s Day 2025: History, significance

Although Nehru’s birthday on November 14 had been celebrated across India and among Indian communities abroad since the 1940s—with public gatherings and children’s games held in his honour—it was only in 1954 that the day was officially observed as “Children’s Day.”

The inaugural celebration took place at Delhi’s National Stadium, where more than 50,000 schoolchildren participated in the festivities.

Regarding Nehru's concern for children and their welfare, M O Mathai (Nehru’s private secretary and confidant) wrote in his book My Days With Nehru (1979), "Nehru saw in their innocent faces and sparkling eyes the future of India. He was convinced that no amount of money spent on children and their mothers was too much, and that it was a sound investment for the future.”

Children’s Day 2025: Quotes

• "Children are like buds in a garden and should be carefully and lovingly nurtured, as they are the future of the nation and the citizens of tomorrow." – Jawaharlal Nehru
• "The children of today will make the India of tomorrow. The way we bring them up will determine the future of the country." - Jawaharlal Nehru
• "I may not have time for adults, but I have enough time for children." - Jawaharlal Nehru
• "Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man." - Rabindranath Tagore
• "If we are to teach real peace in the world, we shall begin with the children." - Mahatma Gandhi