The Pioneer 06.06.2013
Mayor assures slum kids to make city child-friendly
More than 100 children from 15 slums of the city had a dialogue with Jena to make Bhubaneswar more child-friendly. Issues like improper garbage cleaning, non-availability of dustbin, unsafe drinking water, electricity woes, anti- social activities, safe housing, poor transport system, hazardous roads and pathways, lack of public place for children and zero ventilated housing were raised.
While answering different queries of the children, the Mayor assured them to transform Bhubaneswar a child -friendly city with an improved housing, sanitation, electricity, drinking water facilities and access to basic services.
The Mayor pointed out different facilities available inside the slums like ICDS, drinking water, parks and some other upcoming facilities. But the children disagreed with him by raising issues of lack of access to such facilities.
Jena promised to take necessary steps to consider the children a major beneficiary in the urban development plans and policies by taking their views into consideration. It is worth mentioning here that 10-15 per cent child population in the State live in different slums with no access to basic needs.
The total children without access to basic facilities stand at 7.6 million in the whole country. Starting from water, sanitation, housing, air, soil, transport, public place and electricity to other aspects that constitute physical environment in an urban poverty, children are deprived of all amenities and basic needs.
These areas are now unsafe and unhealthy revealed by many studies and
reports. The current budgetary allocation and provisions in urban
policies like JnNURM, RAY and several others launched by the Housing and
Urban Department have ignored children as one of the beneficiaries. Humara Bachpan campaign is advocating for a change in such policies, said National Campaign coordinator Mihir Mohanty.
