Neglect of Children’s Issues in Elections

Source-This post on Neglect of Children’s Issues in Elections has been created based on the article “Missing in manifestos: children’s issues” published in “The Hindu” on 3 June 2024.

UPSC Syllabus–GS Paper-2– Salient Features of the Representation of People’s Act.

Context– The article highlights the lack of attention given to children’s interests by political parties in India, despite children constituting about 30% of the country’s population. It emphasizes the need for political parties to address issues related to children’s nutrition, education, and health in their election manifestos.

What is the education related promises made by different political parties in India?

1) BJP-

1. A) Promises to strengthen PM SHRI Schools, Ekalavya Schools, and other model schools.
2. B) BJP: Aims for 100% Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) from pre-school to secondary level but lacks concrete steps to achieve this.

2) Congress:- Promises to amend the Right to Education Act (RTE) to make education from Class 1-8 compulsory and free. Congress and DMK: Promise financial support and economic opportunities to curb dropout rates.

3) CPI(M): Promises to expand the RTE Act from 3 to 18 years.

What are the nutrition and healthcare related promises made by various political parties?

1) BJP: Focuses on eliminating malnutrition among tribal children.

2) CPI(M): Commits to universalizing the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme to cover all children aged 0-6 years and provide nutritious meals. It assures complete coverage of basic services like immunization and regular health check-ups for all children

3) Congress: Promises to expand the midday meal programme up to Class 12, while DMK promises to expand the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme for children to aided schools (Class 1-5). It also promises to address nutritional deficiency among children and ensure full immunization of children within 5 years (currently at 76%).

4) DMK: Promises budgetary allocations to ensure complete healthcare during the first 1,000 days of a child’s development and mental health programmes in schools.

What are some unaddressed areas in political manifestos regarding children’s welfare?

Manifestos of various political parties have not addressed issues such as-

A) children’s participation in decision-making processes.

B) online safety for children, and initiatives to prevent child exploitation.

C) There is a lack of a “child-rights based approach” in the manifestos and the tendency to club children with ‘women’ or ‘youth’, thereby downplaying their specific needs.

D) There is a focus solely on a few cost-intensive model schools as opposed to bringing systemic changes to improve the public education system.

Political parties must prioritize education, child nutrition, and health in their manifestos, and voters need to assess the parties’ visions and seriousness in safeguarding the future of children.

Question for practice

What are some unaddressed areas in political manifestos regarding children’s welfare?