A child seen wearing a ripped off football on his head at Narela, Delhi
He is not a young Prof. X from Marvel’s X-Men series who got some super powers to save the world. His is the face of the most helpless, voiceless but an important demographic of this country. The youngest citizens, the children of India.
The shrinking playground space is snatched away continuously from the children by the ever expanding real estate business. An old, ripped off football which could be played, no more exists. He is trying to wear it on his head instead and act like Prof. X, a character he has possibly seen somewhere in a comic book.
Look at his eyes, filled with hope. Do we have anything for them in this year’s union budget?
A quick look at the union budget 2018 presented by the Union Finance Minister makes it clear that children and education continue to remain unregistered as national priorities for this government. Children represents more than 40% of the country’s population, but still continue to be neglected in terms of the budgetary shares allocated to them in this year’s budget.
Children seen playing outside a warehouse in Narela, Delhi
A group of children seen playing ‘Gippi’on the road in Tezpur, Assam
Whether it is Tezpur, Assam or the monstrously growing city of Delhi or any other urban space, the story remains the same for children. They are constantly losing their playground as urbanization has left no stone unturned in creating concrete jungles.
We have our priorities towards making smart cities, but limited or no scope for creating playgrounds for children. My neighborhood had three playgrounds and today, I saw these children using the road as their playground.
We all are responsible when it comes to protecting children’s right to play and we must remember that.
Written By: Rinku Bora The writer works at CECED, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University Delhi. He can be reached at rinkubora[at]aud[dot]ac[dot]in
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely of the author. This is not necessarily CECED’s point of view but only reported by CECED.