It was the first time in India's parliamentary history that a children's parliament was held in the central hall of any state legislative assembly.
Present as special invitees to this 'special session' were the Speaker of the state assembly, Sukdev Rajbhar, parliamentary affairs minister Lalji Verma and legislators Lalji Tandon and Om Prakash Singh.
The central hall was arranged like a miniature assembly. There were the marshals, legislative reporters, galleries for the media and public. The only difference was that instead of one there were two speakers--Narendra representing the boys and Reena representing the girls. The two were 'elected' by the 70 under privileged children drawn from different parts of the state.
Organised by Children First--a consortium of 40 Non Governmental Organisations in UP working for children's rights, this novel initiative was undertaken in collaboration with UNICEF and Action Aid on Child Rights Day.
At 1100 hrs the proceedings began with the two speakers and 70 legislators taking their seats. The two assembly reporters took down the minutes that would be forwarded to the different legislative committees for appropriate action.
The issues ranged from poor health facilities, education, and civic amenities in rural areas to issues of child prostitution, child sexual abuse, gender and caste discrimination, police high-handedness in dealing with working children.
Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Om Prakash Singh who sat through the hour long proceedings felt, "This parliament is much more fruitful than any of the bigger parliament sessions." He also supported the popular demand for a state commission for children.
Mr Samphe Lahlunpa, the UNICEF representative felt, "this was an excellent forum for disadvantaged children to pour out their heart before their leaders."
Assembly Speaker Sukhdeo Rajbhar expressed his full support to the demand for a Children's Commission.
Senior BJP Leader Lalji Tandon felt, "the children's Parliament has brought out the true face of society and we must address these issues at once."
