Present day social challenges are the direct result of lack of people’s (at individual level) active participation in governance and the lack of such a platform to come together to have deliberations.
Governance here means, direct power in the whole process of identifying their own problems and needs, discussing them, taking decision to set them right, charting out suitable action plans for the same, implementing the action plans and evaluating the implementation.Towards this, we promote the importance of people’s participation in self-governance and in the above whole processes by educating, organizing, empowering and networking people through a program called “Children’s Parliament”.
Concept
Children’s Parliament is a children’s movement with deliberations, interventions and actions at neighborhood level of 25 to 30 families. All the children in the age group of 6-15 in a neighborhood are equal members of this parliament irrespective of their caste, community, race, social and economical status or their educational status.
Each parliament elects its prime minister and other ministers for home, finance, education, health, medical facilities, food, housing, electricity, safety and security, trade and occupation, employment, environment, law, defense and protection, communication, public distribution, road and transport, women welfare, children welfare, elders welfare and public works and so on, as the need may be through an election process. Each minister and his committee will have a specific role to play.
Once Children’s Parliament is formed and the swearing in of the ministers in public is complete, members are trained in the following three categories:
Functional training : Includes training on basic human rights, how to identify their own problems or social concerns or rights violation, how to have healthy and open discussions, decision making by consensus, charting out action plans, implementing the plans, evaluating the implementation and so on, Right to information, Social auditing. They pass resolutions with consensus and swear that they will abide by them. They are also given training about the government policies and available government schemes and facilities offered and the departments and agencies responsible whom can be approached in need. The ministers are also trained about their duties and responsibilities and functions.
Life Skills training : Includes training on positive thinking, self esteem, goal setting, group dynamism, time management, conflict resolution, stress and anger management, coping with shyness/fear/anger, finance management, Communication skills.
Value based clarification: Includes clarification on basic human values such as love, honesty, peace, brotherhood, justice, sharing, simplicity, truth, etc...
Children’s Parliament convenes its formal meeting once a week, if needed more often, according to their convenience and the members discuss any issues or problems put forward by each minister and if need be they pass resolutions and chart out action plans and also the method and time frame for its implementation and evaluate and audit the already implemented plans.
And thus everyone participates with maximum active involvement in every step and process of finding permanent solutions to the problems resulting in their total eradication. And thus each member exercises his or her absolute power in self-governance.
List of events that have taken place are listed below:
1. Identification of the basti(neighborhood) from where children belonging to age group of 6-15 come together for constituting Children's Parliament - Area identified is Pochchamma Temple basti, Rasoolpura.
2. Door to door meeting the parents of children to introduce the concept and take their consent - 1st Nov
3. Group meeting of parents with BHUMI team at the basti to explain the concept in detail - 2nd Nov
4. 1st Children's meeting at BHUMI Centre, Rasoolpura - A drama was performed by Sandhya and few children to introduce the concept of CP - 3rd Nov
5. 2nd Meeting of Children at BHUMI Centre - Duties of 5 Ministries (Prime Minister, Home Minister, Education Minister, Health Minister, Finance Minister) explained - 7th Nov
6. Election of 5 ministers - 8th Nov
All the elected ministers will be sworn in at a ceremony on Nov 14th 2009 where we will be inviting important govt officials as guests to introduce to them the concept and the newly elected parliament.
Elected Ministers [From left] - Shiva(Education Minister), Mahesh(Home Minister), Abdul (PM), Sai(Health Minister), Sarita(Finance Minister)
Though there are lakhs of Children's Parliaments in India, there was none in Hyderabad. BHUMI is taking the initiative of implementing the same in Hyd, BHUMI is also looking at developing a standard content and audio visuals for the life skills training and value clarification part of the training model.Do contact Pallavi at 9989760002 for more details on Children's Parliament
