Port Blair, Jan 30: Children from various villages of Little, North and South Andaman had an interface meeting with Shri. Anindo Majumdar, Chief secretary, Andaman Nicobar islands on 28th January with the objective of building a protective and child friendly environment in Andaman villages. Earlier, children facilitated children’s Council (Bal Sabha) in different villages of South and North Andaman to discuss the issues related to village and school as the part of preparing a child plan. Further, as the second phase children approached officials/ PRI members in different panchayats and Zilla Parishad to resolve the issues along with memorandums. The major issues discussed by children during advocacy meeting with chief secretary were poor quality of education at schools, Need for compound wall in schools, Need for proper maintenance and water supply in toilet in schools, proper maintenance of roads/footpaths, poor network connectivity in interisland, illegal selling of alcohol in villages, need for career guidance for children at schools/ panchayats, child marriage/ abuse issues in villages, need for children’s parks in villages etc.
Shri. Anindo Majumdar, Chief secretary ensured that he will look in to matters and will take necessary actions to resolve the issues raised by children. The meeting came to end with a vote of thanks proposed by Shri. Sino P Kurian, Programme Manager of Butterflies, Andaman Nicobar Islands.
