India, Karnataka: child participation in local government

Updated - Monday 21 January 2008

On 30 October 2007, the government of the India state of Karnataka passed an order making it mandatory for panchayats (village councils) to offer children a platform to voice their concerns and problems, through special children’s gram sabhas (assemblies). A local NGO, Concerned for Working Children (CWC), was consulted during the drafting of the order.

CWC and the Bhima Sangha (a working children’s union) first introduced Makkala panchayats (children’s councils) in Karnataka in 1995, in collaboration with the Karnataka state Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj. The model of including children in local self-government and planning has been in place since 2004 in all 56 panchayats of Kundapura taluka, Udupi district, Karnataka.

The first series of special children’s gram sabhas for 2007 have already started, with hundreds of children taking part in a recent sabha in Hallihole, a remote panchayat in Udupi district. The panchayat reported back to the children about the successful implementation of 19 programmes that had directly arisen out of issues raised by the children at the 2006 children’s gram sabhas. These included the construction of toilets in schools and improved access to basic facilities and services, not just for children but the entire community.

A similar child participation initiative, funded by UNICEF, has been piloted in Gujarat by the NGO CHETNA [1].

[1] Iyer, C. … [et al.] (2007). Piloting the Child Reporter’s Programme : a participatory initiative with children, December 2006 to February 2007 : a process documentation of child participation in action at Kaprada block, Valsad, Gujarat State, India. Ahmedabad, India, CHETNA and UNICEF. PDF file

Related resources on child participation: