CM gets grilled at Children's Parliament

Children shot a volley of questions at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, including that of the failure on the part of the State government in fulfilling promises made by it, at the Children’s Parliament held here on Tuesday.

“The State government has introduced several schemes and projects for the welfare of children, but they have only remained on papers,” the students complained.
More than 80 children from across the State took part in the event.

Children raised several other issues that included malnourishment, foeticide, child labour and lack of basic facilities at schools. They did not hesitate to point out that some of the assurances the chief minister had made last year were yet to be implemented.

Toilet facilities

Responding to the issue that several schools in the State lacked toilet facilities, the chief minister said the government aimed to put an end to open defecation by 2018. “While the law helps mitigate problems like child trafficking and child marriage, for the situation to change, people need to change their mindset. The Anti-Superstition Act introduced by the government is one such initiative to curb superstitious practices,” he added.

Terming sex offenders worse than animals, he said that the State was committed to tackling sexual offences committed against children. “The State government is committed to implementing the recommendations of MLC Ugrappa Committee, which was constituted to look into the issue,” he said.

Child marriage, child labour and child trafficking were some of the other issues that were discussed by the children during the event.