Empowering deprived children Bihar govt’s priority: Minister Madan Sahni

PATNA: State’s social welfare minister Madan Sahni on Sunday said bringing deprived children, especially those living in shanties, under the umbrella of welfare schemes is the priority of the state government.
Addressing a programme organized by UNICEF to mark World Children’s Day here, the minister said, “During my childhood, the parents of poor and marginalized sections were not much aware or very enthusiastic about their children’s education and other rights.But the trend has now completely changed. Children are going to schools and availing facilities, thanks to several welfare schemes of the government.”
Sahni added children are now vocal about their rights. “However, we need to pay attention to the children living under flyovers and shanties and bring them under the umbrella of government schemes,” the minister said, adding, “On the occasion of World Children’s Day, we all should take pledge to dedicatedly work towards ensuring rights to every child without discrimination.”
A child-friendly comic book prepared by UNICEF was also released jointly by the minister, state’s chief secretary Amir Subhani and UNICEF-Bihar chief Nafisa Binte Shafique. Social welfare secretary Prem Singh Meena and senior adviser, UNICEF Bihar, R K Mahajan, were also present. The book was distributed among the children to create awareness about their rights and duties.
In line with the World Children’s Day strategic approach of ‘Kids Take Over’, the children from the most marginalized communities took the centrestage. From anchoring to creative performances, everything was handled by the children and adolescents themselves. Besides sharing their experiences, the children’s performances showed various kinds of discrimination being faced by them and also the effective ways to overcome them. Adolescents, namely Nandini, Samrat, Bhavya and Niku moderated the entire programme.
Subhani talked about CM Nitish Kumar’s recent announcement about ‘bagless Saturday’ and said the initiative has made children across the state very happy.