by Anuradha Bakshi | Apr 13, 2007 | Uncategorized
It took a shocking story to get the Government to look into the matter of burial sites for little children in India’s capital city. Politicians ignore Nithari in the run up to the state elections in Uttar Pradesh, as the families of the dead children are simple migrants and hence do not have votes. The Ghaziabad Girls are lost in administrative and judicial quagmire. Children are beaten in schools. The drop out rates are mind boggling. Child labour is rampant. Orphanages are cramped and unsafe.
Something is terribly wrong…
We are talking about the millions of children in free India, the third or fourth generation after Independence. We are talking about children who see the day of light in a democracy that professes to give them a host of fundamental rights: from education to shelter, from freedom of speech to freedom of faith. And yet a cursory glance and the plight of many of them is enough to prove that each right has been denied, usurped or hijacked.
It is not that we have done things wrong. A passing glance at the multitude of child related programmes is sufficient to see that children have occupied a place of pride in our planning, and on paper many of the proposed projects are excellent.
Let us just talk of the ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme) to substantiate our point. This programme was conceived and launched in 1975. Its objectives were as follows:
- to improve the nutritional and health status of pre-school children in the age-group of 0-6 years;
- to lay the foundation of proper psychological development of the child;
- to reduce the incidence of mortality, morbidity, malnutrition and school drop-out;
- to achieve effective coordination of policy and implementation amongst the various departments to promote child development; and
- to enhance the capability of the mother to look after the normal health and nutritional needs of the child through proper nutrition and health education.
What a great programme. Had it worked all other child related programmes should have worked too! But the reality is quite different. In 2007 – 32 years after the programme was launched – an ICDS creche in India’s capital city often runs from a space the rent of which cannot exceed Rs 500! In actual terms this means a tiny airless room devoid of what is deemed essential as per the programme: running water, toilet facilities, open space for children to play.
The state of municipal schools is another reflection of the place children have in free India. After sixty years many schools in our capital still do not have proper buildings, let alone other facilities! There are some exceptions, but these are often dependent on the commitment of a handful of honest individuals.
On the other hand, politicians are busy framing reservation policies to higher institutions of learning and the ensuing debates make us wonder who these places in he sun are for. Certainly not for the potential drop out. Somehow no one seems to be bothered about the state of primary education, though poor parents are slowly seeing the writing on the wall and are now often seen sending their children to private institutions that are now mushrooming in our city and are often of poor quality. Yes in India at sixty we have the private school for the poor with names like SK convent, Mother Sundari English Medium School etc, and they come at a heavy price!
My detractors will be quick to point that it is allright to criticise but what about possible solutions. Many do come to mind but what stands out is the necessity of bridging the gap between the rich and the poor, of striking a balance, of reaching out and doig our ‘bit’! What is needed is to raise awareness. What is needed is to stop for an instant and ask oneself a simple question: where are we going? What is needed is to understand that the plight of the other India will one day affect us in more ways than one.
How can a city not have proper habitat for the poor within it? One cannot just wish them away and hope they will remain invisible. How can a city have schools that do not run, privatising them is again not a solution, they have to be strengthened and improved. The judiciary or the media should not have to intervene each time things go wrong.
Ultimately it all comes down to striking a proper balance between our rights and our duties as citizens, something we seem to have conveniently forgotten.
How many more generations of children will have to be born and become adults before we realise this!
by Anuradha Bakshi | Apr 9, 2007 | Uncategorized
The verdict is out in the municipal election. The party in power was routed, or almost as most of Delhi, or let us say the 43 odd % who went out to vote seemed to blame the party in power for all their woes ranging from the sealing drive to the lack of civic amenities.
Our municipal ward saw an interesting contest reflecting once again the maturity of the voter. The fight was between two candidates: one the person in power for two terms and the other a rebel of sorts backed financially by the one ‘who did not get the ticket’ or in terms of symbols the fight was between the hand and the engine!
The engine was carefully selected and belonged to Bihar as a vast majority of the slum dwellers – the normal hand vote bank – are from that state. An aggressive campaign ensued where every ploy in the book was used: cajoling, bribing, threatening… you name it, they did it.
Our well seasoned voters excelled themselves in paying lip service and partaking of all goodies offered but never failed to mention that Mr engine had always been against the poor, the slum dweller, the street vendor and had many a time voiced that dislike in no uncertain terms.
On the other hand they remembered Mr hand who in spite of everything was always there for them. Come election day and they excersised their right to vote with intelligence and brought Mr hand back even when most of the city did not. For them it was a municipal election and hence they wanted a person who would help them. It was not a time to back caste, creed or even a larger ideology.
Grapes went sour for Mr engine who fumed, ranted and raved. But to no avail. Many had come to me with a smug smile and shared that they hand voted for Mr hand in spite of what they had been saying, as ultimately it was their decision and their right.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Apr 7, 2007 | Uncategorized
There was a time not so long ago, when we waited with bated breath for march 31st. That was the day results were declared in both primary and secondary municipal schools.
As mark-sheets landed on our desk and children dropped by with sweetmeats, our excitement grew till the moment we had all the results and reached the magic 100% figure.
As we had the much awaited confirmation, I remember setting out to write e-mails to all our friends and supporters – I was not a blogger then – to share that great moment. Then like always we turned a tad blasé and sunk in our comfort zones as 100% seemed the rule and not the exception.
What stood out the was whether any one had topped her or his class. Slowly even that became almost routine. A tiny sentence in a blog post market the achievement.
31 march 2007 came and went and so did the first week of April. As teachers dropped by the office we one again got confirmation of a 100% result and our handful of toppers!
It has been 7 years since we set this trend, 7 years when children have not dropped out but passed with honourable marks. The 400 school going children may seem a drop in the ocean in this city where over 100 000 children do not attend school, but what makes our achievement laudable is the fact that we have managed this result with untrained teachers drawn from the community itself. This in other words means that with a little bit of help a community can be empowered to take over their children’s education and contain the staggering drop out rates.
A quick perusal of our classrooms proves that not much is needed to run classes: a steer corner, an open space, some shade and a committed ‘teacher’ is all one needs. Our true achievement is of having elaborated and validated a model that works.
Now it is time to transfer power slowly and to taken the role on advisor, consultant, mentor..
Another statistics we looked at come April was the new school admissions. Not so much the little children who left our early education programme make their way to class I, but those who were not in school or had dropped out. It has been our effort to help such children integrate mainstream schooling in a class as close to their age as possible. This year again a large number of children will be mainstreamed and will thus enjoy their constitutional right to Education.
The above statistics are important to project why as they validate our core mission: to ensure that children integrate and remain in school. I know that some of our friends may feel we sometimes seem to be diluting our programmes, but that is not so. We have always remained true to our essential mission, it is just that our little team has become empowered enough to handle what once took most of our time, enabling us to reach out to larger issues as these too will affect the lives of the children we teach.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Apr 6, 2007 | Uncategorized
The municipal elections are over.. They were less noisy and almost poster free but candidates did make their presence felt in novel ways: loads of street ambulations that looked like marriage parties where the well garlanded candidates paraded as grooms (never mind the gray hair and pot bellies) led by a rowdy group of hired supporters and drum beats. Their eager henchmen preceded them rapidly shoving garlands in the hands of by standers asking them to do the needful as the hero of the moment crosses their way.
What was different this time was the staggering number of independent candidates with amusing election symbols: over and above the well known hand, lotus ad elephant we had an aeroplane, a cup-saucer, a candle, a house, an locomotive, a banana, a mango, a book, a broom and more. Notwithstanding the use of EVMs, the supporters shouted: put your stamp on ..
The multiplicity of candidates and the well known time laxity in our land made many parties come face to face in the tiny lanes and often lead to arguments and fist fights, in one case even gunfire!
I was happy to see that even simple people found this aggressive and bombastic electioneering an insult to their intelligence. They just played on.. knowing that they would cast their vote for who they wanted. They were the ones who were quick to tell me the not so glorious antecedents which seems to be a common factor for everyone of them.
On election day however many hopes were shattered as for those who did not have voter’s ID cards the options allowed by the Election commission once again divided India: PAN cards, driving licences or passports were ID’s that would allow you to vote, whereas ration cards were disallowed. So those living in slums and whose name appeared on the electoral rolls could not vote as they did not have the required ID proof as they often do not drive cars, pay taxes or travel outside India!
Election day saw money exchanging hands and the presence of liquor was evident in the sway of many people as the day passed..
A friend called saying that she questioned the validity of electoral promises which seem to state the obvious as were not municipalities meant to provide citizens with water, electricity and a clean environment?
There was a small feeling of satisfaction as the “none of the above” option was included. I remembered the fight it had been to excercise the “refuse to vote” option some years back.
We indeed had come a long way.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Apr 5, 2007 | Uncategorized
Manu, a young physically and mentally challenged young man lived on the street, neglected, dirty and soiled. People would feed him but like you feed an animal. Children threw stones at him. His family abused him in all conceivable ways. No one touched him, when things became too much he would let out the most heart wrenching cries.
We knew we had to do something and after exploring all options we realised we had to give him back his dignity within his community. To do this, we had to gain the confidence of the community and that is why we opened our centre. We looked after Manu, cleaned him, found him a place to sleep and slowly began to get to know him, love him and discover his humane qualities. Slowly he learned to look after himself, to eat with a spoon and to spend time in the centre and even participated in vocational activities. And as days went by, not only we, but the very people who had shunned him began to discover Manu.
These words appeared on our website way back in 2001. I looked through the thousands of pictures that document project for a photograph of Manu’s as he was then and find none. Somehow it felt wrong to snap such despair, no one had the right to do so.
Today Manu is an integral part of our special section where he has his pals. He participates in all activities be it cooking or classroom work; he loves dancing and has reclaimed the right to assert his likes and dislikes, like any one of us.
We had come a long way but we still needed to establish his social identity and give him his civic rights. Has family of course had abandoned him, denying him even his right share after his father’s demise. Getting him one seemed an impossible catch 22 situation: to get a handicap certificate you need a ration card, to get a ration card you need a permanent address and so on.
But there was one thing we could get him: a bank account under the guardianship of our organisation. So yesterday Manu had his first ID picture taken. What a huge moment it was for all of us as he set out to get that picture taken.
In the course of the week we will open his account. Even I who have is by now a firm believer in miracles feel a little dizzy as I look back at the road Manu has travelled.
PS: unfortunately by the time we got to the bank the rules had changed and our letter did not suffice and Manu’s account could not be opened.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Apr 3, 2007 | Uncategorized
This is where planet why will be one day….believe it or not this place is in Delhi!
