Thousands of children from across the country gathered online to release their unique ‘Election Manifesto – of, for and by children’ in the hope of influencing the manifestos of all political parties, if not each individual candidate seeking to contest the upcoming General Election in the 2024. The vote4me campaign is an effort to rally 4 million V.O.T.E(s) (Voices Of The Empowered Children).
While accepting their disenfranchised status as citizens below the age of 18, these young citizens seek to influence election manifestos and the narrative of election campaigns with real issues that are of concern to young people in the hope that their intervention would influence public opinion and political will towards improving the life situations of 400 million of their peers and that of their Mother Earth.
They further vowed to engage at least 1% (4 million) of their Indian peers in the run up to General elections scheduled for May, 2024. Quoting from their NINEISMINE declaration, Nikky the Union Minister of the National Inclusive Children’s Parliament (N.I.C.P) said, ”We the Children of India, may not be voters but we believe that the voices of children can be stronger than the votes of adults and that it is necessary for us to speak up now, to secure our future.”
The demands of the children ranged from issues related to budgets, healthcare, accessibility and rights for, advocacy by and trust (protection) of all children particularly the last (and most vulnerable) children of India. The child-anchors of the event cleverly summarized their list of demands in the word B.H.A.R.A.T. even as they sought to strengthen and nurture their Incredible Nation Dedicated to the Inclusion of All.
Children belonging to child rights organizations and schools from across the country presented their list of demands in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Tamil, Telugu and even sign language. They aim to have this manifesto translated in all major languages of India if not in all its regional languages and local dialects.
Ruksar Rehman (17), the child-president of the N.I.C.P. insisted that ‘as a child, I seek child rights for all children. As a girl, I seek gender-rights for all sexual minorities, as a Muslim, I seek rights for all vulnerable Indians, as a member of our Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, I seek earth rights for all earthlings.” In short Rehman insisted, “I seek All Rights for all Indians, because only then India will be
5000 children in the country were consulted in local communities by their own peers towards the creation of this manifesto. The National Council of Ministers (N.I.C.O.T.) later placed the emerging recommendations before their own cabinet of ministers and child-rights experts before finalizing the same.
Shradhima (13) a child minister from Cooch Behar Annashristi, a Child rights organization in West Bengal, shared the children’s recommendations on their health and survival of every child. She claimed that ‘Make India, free from child marriage, child trafficking, child poverty, child labour and child abuse.’ was her personal favourite because she believed that ‘all rights for all children’ was her dream for India and the world.
The child-citizen’s attending the virtual event were unanimous in their endorsement of their belief that children “Presently may be 36% of India’s citizens but 100% of India’s future.”
The Children’s Manifesto ends with the following demand. “We, the children of India, finally seek that each political party and individual candidate devotes one day each year to report to children on the progress each has made in fulfilling their child-centered promises. This, we believe, would underline your commitment to these promises.”
Avidha Golwalkar, Associate Project Director Vacha Charitable Trust , recalled the evolution of the vote4me anthem. Swarnalaxmi Ravi, the former Prime Minister of the N.I.C.P. informed the gathering that 120 child prime-ministers from neighborhood children’s parliaments across 120 parliamentary constituencies across the country will assemble in Delhi at the end of January, to interact with all political parties in Delhi to seek the adoption of their Children’s manifesto.
Steve Rocha, the national convener of NINEISMINE campaign concluded, ‘The purpose of involving children in world’s largest exercise of democracy, was to ensure that India led the world in setting a non-negotiable standard of genuinely engaging children in all policy-making moments including elections. It is important that India through each of its elected representatives is educated through this exercise to see children as active and engaged citizens of today – with meaningful experiences, realistic aspirations and unique recommendations, rather than citizens of the future.”
