Maharashtra government to hold Bal Sabhas for children in villages on April 24

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has decided to hold Bal Sabhas in every village on April 24, which is observed as Panchayati Raj Day, to give children a platform to express their views and participate in the Panchayati Raj system, an official said on Wednesday.

As per an official statement, every gram panchayat will organise Bal Sabhas for children in the age group of 11 to 18 years, presided by a sarpanch to discuss issues concerning them, hear their opinions and take necessary decisions. The notification issued by the state rural development department on April 8 has listed concerns such as child marriage, child labour, issues that emerged due to the COVID-19 pandemic, child rights and its implementation, government schemes, children's participation in the decision-making process as per the 15th Finance Commission and their say in spending 10 percent of the funds and creating a child-friendly atmosphere in villages for their growth.

The idea of a child-friendly panchayat in Maharashtra was started by UNICEF in 2015, it was stated. “Bal Sabhas and Bal Panchayats were organised in the pilot gram panchayats in Chandrapur, Latur and Nandurbar districts. Later, the programme was scaled at block-level in Chandrapur and Nandurbar,” the statement said. The rural development department's additional chief secretary Rajesh Kumar said that the government has been putting “a lot of emphasis” on ensuring that the children's voices are heard and accounted for.

“The state government had already made participation of children mandatory in the village-level planning process. With this decision to have Bal Sabhas in all panchayats on Panchayati Raj Divas, we are taking another step forward in mainstreaming platforms for children to influence the village development process in line with state policy for children,” the official said in the statement.

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Anuradha Nair, the social policy specialist with the UNICEF, said UNICEF Maharashtra has been advocating child participation in governance for over a decade and that it realises the potential of local governments to ensure rights for women and children. “The child-friendly panchayat programme piloted by the UNICEF and the department demonstrated a model for children to raise voice on issues and engage in decision-making,” the statement quoted Nair as saying.

Children's participation has helped the gram panchayats work for the protection of child rights and address their issues through participatory planning and proper budgeting, she said, adding that the decision to conduct state-wide Bal Sabhas is really encouraging. Ghatkul, an ideal gram panchayat and one of the pilot child-friendly panchayats in the state, has taken “many initiatives” since its inception in 2018, the statement said. It has installed CCTVs for girls' safety, improved the mid-day meal scheme, brought sanitary pad disposal machines, started a bus service for students, and senior citizens, made available drinking water, sports kits and started digital education based on recommendations from 'Bal Sabha', the statement said.

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Kajal Ralegaonkar (17), the first sarpanch of Ghatkul Bal Sabha expressed satisfaction over the works carried out during her stint. “Before the initiative, particularly we girls, were engaged in typical roles of studying and helping in household chores. With Bal Sabha work, we started expressing ourselves with confidence. We are now aware of our rights and duties,” the statement quoted Kajal as saying.