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Children find no place in election manifestos, ARC meets candidates today Express News Service Apr 20, 2009 Pune As children are ineligible to vote, activists say most political parties neglect to make any mention of them or undertake an indepth study of the needs of children. In an attempt to bridge this gap, the Action for Rights of Children (ARC), a network for all child rights organisations in Pune, has organised a meeting with Lok Sabha candidates on Monday. "Whatever little the candidates have said is on a very superficial level, no one has come out with a concrete idea. We want candidates to discuss child labour, migration, child trafficking, sexual abuse, rehabilitation of displaced children and the need to upgrade infrastructure in residential schools," said Nakul Kate, co-ordinator for ARC. However, till late Sunday evening, ARC had received no reply or confirmation from any of the candidates, a week after they sent them an invitation on April 14. "We had invited Congress candidate Suresh Kalmadi, BJP's Anil Shirole, MNS's Ranjit Shirole, BSP's D S Kulkarni, independents Vikram Bokey and Arun Bhatia. They have sent no confirmation of their attendance nor have they sent us assurances that they will take up the issue," said Kate. Around 15 NGOs will be attending the meeting, he said. Activists said the candidates should clarify what they would do if voted to power. "In Pune, the quality of food in municipal schools is poor. Infrastructure needs to be improved. The Child Labour Regulations Act should be extended to 18 years, from the present age limit of 14 years. The Right to Education Bill has to be implemented," said Manish Shroff, a child rights activist. Suresh Kalmadi, Anil Shirole, Ranjit Shirole and D S Kulkarni could not be contacted. Vikram Bokey, independent candidate said that he had not received any invitation. "At present, it is not in my manifesto, but child issues are very close to my heart. Children are the pillars of this nation and child labour, abuse or trafficking is a shame on our nation," Bokey said. Arun Bhatia, the independent candidate said that lack of focus on children's issue was related to corruption. "In a corrupt country, values are also corrupt and subjects like children and gender issues will never get attention," Bhatia said adding that he too was not aware of the meeting. |
