Do you know this?

There are approximately 18000 parents registered with CARA, while the number of children in the Government's adoption pool is less 1800.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Today is children’s day in India.

November 14th is observed as the “Children’s day” throughout India. Our first Prime Minister Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru loved children very much and after his death his birthday is observed as the “Children’s day”. When I was growing up, it wasn’t a school holiday and it used to be a day full of fun but today for many schools it is a holiday. My daughter wore color clothes yesterday to school and they did lot of fun things.

Unfortunately for many children in India it is just another day. 47% of our children are malnourished, more than 60% are subjected to abuse of some kind including sexual abuse, world’s highest suicide rate among the teenagers, and millions in child labor etc. The list goes on and on.

You and I as citizens of this country, have any responsibility to our children? Of course we do. Children are our future. If we want India to be prosperous and strong, we need to lay the strong foundations and that begins with children. Let me give you an example: We know that food is an integral part of our life. When we don’t eat, we don’t have adequate strength, which in turn will lead to poor growth (physically and intellectually). 47% of our country’s children are malnourished and in a generation’s time, that many citizens of our country could be those of poor intellectual ability. That in itself could be a drag on our economy.

There’s no better place for children than a loving home. We must ensure that all our children live in homes or at least in an environment that is close to a home. As we celebrate children’s day today, the best thing that you can ever do is to promote child rights in India. I have enclosed two electronic documents explaining about child rights. Take a glance at them to learn and promote.

Happy Children’s Day.

Children in India and their rights: http://nhrc.nic.in/Publications/ChildrenRights.pdf

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC): http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/pdf/crc.pdf

RN

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