World Children’s Day vs Nehru Jayanti: A case for change
The Congress is in a state of shock because the results of the Bihar Assembly election came on November 14, the birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru, claimed to be Rahul Gandhi’s great-grandfather. The day is observed as Children’s Day in India. But the rest of the world celebrates World Children’s Day on 20th November every year.[1]
“World Children’s Day was first established in 1954 as Universal Children’s Day and is celebrated on 20 November each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improve children’s welfare,” says the United Nations.
November 20th is an important date as it is the date in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. It is also the date in 1989 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Since 1990, World Children’s Day also marks the anniversary of the date that the UN General Assembly adopted both the Declaration and the Convention on Children’s Rights.
World Children’s Day was there in 1954, a decade before the death of Jawaharlal Nehru. The Government of India may redesign 14th November as the Day for Sex Workers and Transgenders since Nehru had special concern and affection for them, according to people who know him inside out.
The Bihar Assembly election was preceded by demonstrations and agitations staged under the auspices of the Nehru-Gandhi clan across the country, alleging Vote Chori. But what happened was that the Prime Minister was stealing the hearts of the people through his sincerity and dedication to the people. Yes, it turned out to be a Dil Chori (stealing the heart) campaign. The Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar delivered to a great extent the promises made by the NDA in its election manifesto of 2020.
With nothing else to speak to the electorate, Rahul Gandhi was harping on the clichéd allegations that minority community members were under attack from the Sangh Parivar activists, and corruption has become the order of the day. The names of Adani and Ambani continued to be his trump cards. But he failed to notice the legal proceedings initiated by various investigating agencies against the Ambani family and many other business houses for violation of corporate laws and hoodwinking the taxmen.
Modi’s speeches focused on development and social welfare schemes. He had answers to all issues faced by the common man, while he ignored the unsubstantiated charges levelled against his government. There was no doubt in the mind of the Prime Minister, as well as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, about the victory awaiting the NDA.
Regarding the need to declare 20th November as Children’s Day, it is the NDA Government at the Centre that introduced National Education Policy, PM-SRI (Pradhan Mantri Schools for Raising India), a state-of-the-art revolutionary school education system to make quality education accessible to all sections of Indian society so that the country’s young generation could stand up to their counterparts in developed nations.
Smart Class Rooms, digital library, modern laboratories, sports and recreational facilities of global standards, extra-curricular activities to sustain their interest in studies are what are envisaged in this scheme. To begin with, 14,500 schools spread across the length and breadth of the country would be elevated as PM-SRI, and in due course, all schools would be turned into such schools. Most of the states, barring Kerala and Tamil Nadu, have opted for this system of education and have signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the Union Government.
In Tamil Nadu, M K Stalin does not like to see the children of downtrodden people getting educated in PM-SRI and wants them to remain illiterate and uncivilized so that his children or grandchildren would not face any challenge from persons outside the Karunanidhi clan. But in Kerala, the opposition is from the CPI, which describes itself as the think tank of the global communist movement. The CPI’s top leaders, D Raja and Binoy Viswam, the Kerala Secretary of the party, are opposing the scheme tooth and nail because their positions too would be challenged if the new breed of students coming out of PM-SRI schools understand the folly behind the communist ideology.
The Bihar election results corroborate the theory that the electorate loves leaders who are transparent, sincere, accessible, and serious about raising the quality of life. Remember, Bihar was the State that contributed many freedom fighters to the nation. It was home to Nalanda and Pataliputra, once known as the benchmarks of culture and civilization, before Lalu Prasad Yadav turned the State into an area of squalor. People deserve much better respect and affection from their leaders. Time we dispatched the likes of Lalu Prasad Yadav to the dustbin of history.
The Congress leaders, if there are any, should understand that CWC means Congress Working Committee and not Child Welfare Committee.
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
Reference:
[1] World Children’s Day 20 November – UN Org
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