Weathering the storm

On World Children's Day 2021, I send my best wishes and blessings to every child across the globe. On November 20, 1990, the United Nations adopted both the Declaration and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This day is a great opportunity for all of us to revisit the past and do an honest analysis of what we have done for our children, what is remaining to be done and how we can better our efforts. This day is a reminder for all of us, how we can create a better world for them to live in. I feel honoured to be a part of the world where we have a day dedicated to our children, their rights.

I feel happy that being the Chief Minister, I am bestowed with the opportunity to serve them with the best services but, at the same time, it also puts an immense responsibility on my shoulders to safeguard child rights in my state as well as ensure delivery of quality education to them. Given the opportunity, I would like you all to know that our government is committed and striving hard to ensure quality education for every child in the state.

I believe the best weapon or the best tool we can give our children to shape their future would be to educate them, give them the confidence to fight the different odds and make them capable of creating a space in the modern competitive world.

Jharkhand is one of the poorest states in the country. Despite being one of the richest states in terms of mineral reserves, a substantial part of our population is forced to live below the poverty line; they lead their life on the bare minimum necessities. For a long time, children from poor and marginalised sections have been deprived of quality education. On November 15, Jharkhand completed 21 years of its formation but it saddens me to say that even after two decades, we could not ensure quality education for each of our children. There is a lot to be done in the field of education. We are committed to transforming the entire education infrastructure and ensuring the delivery of quality education to every child of the state.

We are taking multiple steps to create such a system in the state which will not only ensure quality education but will also create a pool of the most competent human resources in the country. The biggest challenge is to mobilise children from marginalised and poor families to schools. To address this issue, we are offering free study materials, notebooks, uniforms, school bags, shoes and other necessary items for the students of classes 1 to 8. In the past, this scheme was extended to the girls of classes 9 to 12 as well. Also, this year we have extended this scheme for boys of classes 9 and 10. Under the free bicycle distribution scheme, we are distributing bicycles to the students of class 8.

To impart quality education, the state government has launched many new projects such as; Gyanoday, Gyansetu, e-vidyavahini, SATH-e and others. To promote girls education, the state government runs residential schools across the state. Among these are 203 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Awasiya Vidyalaya, 57 Jharkhand Balika Awasiya Vidyalaya and 20 Neta Ji Shubhash Chandra Bose Awasiya Vidyalaya, dedicated to students affected by Naxal violence.

Going further, to fulfil our commitment towards child rights and ensuring the Right to Quality Education, we have allocated more than Rs 1,800 crores under the Adarsh Vidyalaya Scheme. This scheme is aimed to create a completely new and modern educational infrastructure in the state. Under this initiative, we are going to develop 80 district level Schools of Excellence, 325 block-level Model Schools and 4,091 Panchayat-level Model Schools. The government has planned to develop these schools on the model of private schools and will ensure that a child from the marginalised sections of the society gets quality education at par with the global standards.

Unfortunately, Jharkhand is among the leading states in the country concerning a high number of malnourishment cases. However, the incumbent state government is committed to eradicating the evils of anaemia and malnutrition from the state. In the same spirit, the government is all set to launch an innovative initiative, 'SAAMAR' i.e., Strategic Action for Alleviation of Malnutrition and Anaemia Reduction project. Within this project, a 1,000-day-long special mission is being launched which would focus on improving the health of mothers as well as children in the state, across multiple indicators as per the national standard. Also, under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, we have introduced the 'Poorak Poshahar Scheme' to serve eggs and fruits to school students on all six days.

The spread of the novel coronavirus had challenged our existence. Prioritising the value of human life, we had to take measures to curb the spread of the virus. Unfortunately, schools had to be shut. We had to ensure that students do not suffer due to this mitigating measure. We started online classes for them through the Gyansetu app. Those families who were devoid of smartphones or laptops were assisted by the school teachers. Additionally, Mid-day meal dry rations were delivered to their doorsteps so that they could get nutritious food throughout. But this was not enough to meet the standards of classroom education; many students were still deprived of education.

Now, when the cases of COVID-19 are declining and we are moving towards normalcy, the gates of schools have been reopened. But here we are facing a different set of challenges. Students have lost the habit of reading, adapting to new lessons and the habit of sitting in the classrooms. We are facing issues in transition and retention rate as compared to the past. Also, COVID-19 has left a socio-economic imbalance in society and this has affected our children directly or indirectly. We, as a society, have to rethink the social and emotional well-being of our children.

I believe sports is one of the best tools to bridge the social gap among our children, give them a sense of team spirit and ensure sound mental health. With this vision, we have launched the 'SAHAY' i.e., Sports Action towards Harnessing the Aspiration of Youth scheme in the state. This scheme is aimed at promoting sports in the rural areas and would also help us create a pool of sports talent within the state. We aim to develop Jharkhand as the nursery of sports.

The present time is one of the most challenging times for us; we again have to work from scratch, especially in the rural areas. This is a challenging time for each of us, as a society, as global citizens. If we want to have a better future for our children then we all will have to come together, work together for them, for us.

Today, on World Children's Day, I request every citizen of my state, my fellow citizens of India and people from across the globe to come forward, take some time out of our busy schedule and sit with our children and ask them, how are they feeling? Are they scared of something? Are they getting a quality education? Do they need help? Some of you may think that these little steps would not be effective. But, believe me, these little steps will bring big changes. It will help them realize that we think about them, we care for them, and we are here for them. This is not a requirement but it's their right which has been ignored for years. Slowly, everyone will start taking this up and we would be able to create a safe, sound and equal world for our children.

In the end, I congratulate and send my best wishes to everyone working for child rights, including UNICEF, and urge everyone to pledge to help at least one needy child every year.

The writer is the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. Views expressed are personal