Child activists campaign headed to Delhi to get government deliver on anti-poverty pledge

(Nov. 09, 2011) The latest initiative in a campaign spearheaded by a Christian brother to ensure quality education and basic health care for children kicked off in India’s northeastern state of Meghalaya on Tuesday. Nine children with disabilities will travel through nine northeastern states on what is being called the Nau Kadam (nine steps) Express to New Delhi. It’s the latest initiative in the NINE-IS-MINE campaign launched by Brother Steve Rocha during a children’s march in Delhi on October 2006. Along the way they will engage with politicians and influential figures to put pressure on the government to deliver on a promise to devote nine percent of the country’s GDP to education and health. The Express is due to reach the capital on November 20, Child Rights Day. Two other groups from southern India will also join them.
The Express was waved off on Tuesday from St. Edmund’s School in Shillong by Conrad Sangma, opposition leader in the Meghalaya legislative assembly. “You do not have the right to vote. But your voices are more powerful than votes. When children speak, adults must listen,” he told the nine children. “I extend my wholehearted support to your call. I add my voice to yours.” he added.
Brother Steve Rocha, who started the campaign, said it is vital the government meets its promise to end poverty, social exclusion and discrimination. “Every 15 seconds an Indian child dies from a neonatal disease and one out of three malnourished children in the world is Indian,” Br Rocha said, citing several reports from leading charities and aid agencies. Children from all walks of life are joining hands with their deprived peers to extend their creativity, time and voice to press for their demands, he added.