Today is the 150th birth anniversary of the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and it is not by coincidence that Children’s Day in India is also celebrated today.
After 1959, November 20 was chosen as Children’s Day as it marked the anniversary day when the Declaration of the Rights of the Child was adopted by the UN General Assembly, which was drafted by Eglantyne Jebb, a British social reformer who also founded Save the Children organisation.
Jebb’s initial 1923 document consisted of the criteria that are still not seriously implemented in India. It said:
the child must be given the means requisite for its normal development, both materially and spiritually;
the child that is hungry must be fed, one that is sick must be nursed, the backward must be helped, the delinquent child must be reclaimed, and the orphan and the waif must be sheltered and succored;
it must be the first to receive relief in times of distress;
it must be put in a position to earn a livelihood, and must be protected against every form of exploitation;
The Bible says, “People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom
Father Dominic Emmanuel, a founder member of Parliament of Religion, can be contacted at frdominic@gmail.com
