Taking note of repeated instances of children’s participation in processions and the like for long hours under a burning sun, the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has directed that these events wind up within two hours in the mornings.
The commission, back in 2015, had issued a similar order directing the government that no child was used in religious and cultural processions for more than three hours and no procession was taking out infringing on a child’s right to education.
In the latest directions to the General Education Principal Secretary, Director of General Education, and Local Self-government and Urban Affairs Secretaries on the matter, commission member Reni Antony imposed strict conditions on children’s participation in processions in connection with celebrations such as Republic Day and Independence Day.
Such processions should begin at 8 a.m. and finish by 10 a.m. so that the children are spared the harsh sun. Moreover, instead of children bringing up the rear of the processions, they should head these while people’s representatives and other socio-cultural-relisious leaders followed them, the commission said.
The commission was acting on a petition from a Kollam parent whose daughter is a Class 6 student of Girls High School, Karunagapally. The petitioner alleged that many children taking part in an Independence Day procession along the national highway in the scorching sun last year fainted as they had to walk a long distance without food and water. The procession that began at 9.30 a.m. continued till noon.
In response to the complaint, the Kollam district education officer accepted that children got the opportunity to take part in the rally only around 10.30 a.m. and it was 11.40 a.m. by the time the procession ended. However, it was not very hot in Kollam on the day concerned, and arrangements were in place to provide water to the students. The presence of a large number of students prevented distribution of food to all of them.
The Karunagapally municipal secretary reported instead of the expected 3,000, more than 10,000 students turned up for the procession and that snacks were distributed to them.
The school headmistress, in her report, said that students reported to the school at 7.30 a.m. for the procession, and that it was 10.30 a.m. by the time they got the chance to take part in it.
The commission sought the petitioner’s views on the reports and was given evidence of the temperatures that day and told that students were out on the road without food till 1 p.m. when the programme ended. The claims made by the officials in the report were false, the petitioner alleged.
The commission while noting the importance of such programmes in student development observed that these processions got inordinately delayed and their failure to adhere to a time schedule was unjustifiable. Often, the organisers tended to focus on the size and grandeur and competitive aspects of processions, and ignore the difficulties faced by children participating in them.
The commission directed the General Education Principal Secretary and the Local Self-government Secretary to ensure that the best interests of the child were protected whenever they took part in such programmes.
