Bal Mitra Gram (Child Friendly Village)
Success Stories
Ajay, The Leader
He is the leader. Ajay Kumar, 12, is the elected head of National Bal Mitra Mahapanchayat Executive Committee.Spending his early childhood as a slave labourer with the high caste landlord, later rescued by BBA and trained in the organisation's rehabilitation center, Bal Ashram, the firebird Ajay joined hands with the BMG activists in the formation of Bal Mitra Gram, Child Friendly Village.Today he symbolises the potential of children and youth in the change making. He alongwith his friends knocked each single door of the village Ramchandranagar and succeeded in motivating a whole lot of parents particularly the mothers and created a sense of pride for education.
Children’s Participation
The child leaders have been successful in bringing a change in their village through the bal panchayat. A preview of seven successes of the bal panchayat:
Bal Mitra Gram- Ramchandranagar, Patna, Bihar
Ramchandranagar is one of those dozens of BMG's'. None of the two hundred odd children belonging to the Dalit community have been to school only 2 years back in Ramchandranagar, a typical village just 50km away from the capital city of Bihar. Today no child is out of the school. The wonder has not been brought by the Government neither by outside funding or support. This is possible in the creation of a Bal Mitra Gram . Awakened by BMG activists, the poor villagers contributed some money, bricks, straw, and mud and built a structure for school, which they are highly proud of. Village panchayat join hands with them later.
The motivated children identified the nearby liquor shop as their biggest enemy because their fathers spoil money and family. On the initiative of children's panchayat, the kids and their mothers took out demonstrations and had a protest before in front of the local police station which has never seen the anger, spirit and organisation of these young children. Eventually the shop was closed. The victory earned gave enormous self-confidence, respect and motivation for further multiplication of BMG in nearby villages with the participation of children, community and panchayat.
Rupkawas - Girls At The Forefront
Bal Mitra Gram Rupkawas in Rajasthan has set the tone for girls’ empowerment with all the elected positions in the Bal Panchayat going to girls. This is a big achievement in a state like Rajasthan where women have always been denied their rights. The accomplishment of the ‘Bal Panchayat’ is visible as they were successful in the –
- Building of a separate toilet for girls thus reducing the drop-out rate of girls.
- Construction of a concrete platform in the school to be used for playing.
- Formation of Kishore Balika Mandal, a group of 20 girls, to discuss social issues like child marriage, dowry and raise the matter with adults.
- The members of Kishore Balika Mandal have decided to take the responsibility to sustain the BMG in their village.
- It has also started the process to get the group registered formally with the Jila Parishad.
Fatuha - Fight against social evils
Ajay Kumar, the president of Bal Mitra Mahapanchayat Executive Committee took to the street in his fight against social evils. He busted a nexus between criminals and small time trades who were running a spurious liquor racket in Bal Mitra Gram of Fatuha near Patna. Ajay was instrumental in making the gram panchayat under the Sarpanch Dev Kumar Singh, take action against the main culprit, Birju Paswan. Ajay and his bal panchayat members submitted a memorandum to the police urging them to make the entire Fatuha block completely liquor free. The children also staged a dharna to highlight the evils of alcohol addiction. The local police with the support of the villagers and the panchayat members arrested Paswan and seized 120 litres of spurious liquor that he was taking to sell in adjoining villages.
Mirzapur - Strength of children
12 year old Ragini, won the election as the Sarpanch of the Bal Panchayat with a big aim. Mirzapur, a predominantly tribal village had no middle school. The long distance to the nearest school made most girls drop-out after primary education. This also increased the number of domestic girl child labourers. Ragini, had resolved to get a middle school started in her village for girls to continue their education. As the Sarpanch, she wrote letters to the district magistrate (DM) and the education department describing the problem faced by the children specially the girls. The negligence of the administration to take action led the children to stage a demonstration in front of the DM's office. The authorities had to bow before their demands. A middle school was immediately sanctioned by the DM. Today, the school is within easy access and the girls also are fulfilling their dream of finishing school. The persuasive ability of Ragini has made her a role model for other girls.
Malutana - Towards self reliant attitude
This predominantly agriculture based village had 37 children working in carpet looms and stone quarries. Through BMG’s Intervention, child labour has been eradicated and all the 37 children are in school. BMG’s efforts enabled 50 people to benefit from Drought and Relief Schemes from the Government. The eight members of ‘Bal Panchayat’ raised and successfully addressed various issues, such as:
- Getting Telephone line for the School
- Proper Electrical Connection
- Repair of the School room and construction of Toilet in school
- Effectively stopping illegal liquor production and consumption in the entire village.
- Setting up of a Library
- Ensuring access to Sports items
The integration of the Bal Panchayat with the Mahila Mandal (Women’s Group) and Yuva Committee (Youth group) were instrumental in bringing about notable developments and passing of various welfare resolutions.
Sothana - Generation Awakening
One of the important demands made by Bal Panchayat of Sothana to the adult panchayat was to construct the boundary around the transformer in the village. Seeing a stray cow going near the transformer and getting electrocuted, the children were concerned about the safety of others as well as their own. This shows the awareness among the children and the ability to convince the adults to take action through the Bal Panchayat which has given them a platform to voice their demands and grievances.
Maudhanshwar - Raise their voices
The Sarpanch of the bal panchayat of Maudhaneshwar appealed to his panchayat members to work for the eradication of child labour. They held a meeting with the gram panchayat and gave the following proposals
- Children should be given free education in schools
- School teachers should not be assigned other government work as it hampers their teaching
- Construction of toilet in school
The gram panchayat initially did not consider seriously their problems. The bal panchayat members with the support of other adults staged a demonstration and then their demands were fulfilled.
Jamli - Fight for their Rights
The bal panchayat of Jamli presented a memorandum to the Child Development Officer to open a school in their village. With no schools in the village many children were sitting at home or had started working. The parents wanted to send their children to school but were unable to do so. The opening of a school has been welcomed by all and it was the children who took the initiative to fight for their rights. 
