PANJIM: Children's Day, is celebrated in India on November 14, which is a unique tradition to express the nation's love for its children. This tradition is tied up with the Birth Anniversary of India’s First Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
Children’s day is celebrated every year in memory of the birth anniversary of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, whose fondness for children was well known. The day focusses on the importance of caring for and educating the youth of the nation. However, ensuring that the youth have quality playtime and exercise their bodies in the great outdoors is also part of this pledge, which we as adults have to redeem.
One of the manner of redeeming this pledge of caring for children is the way we provide leisure and relaxation for our kids, in the stressed out school and college environment.
In one such case, Activist Cecille Rodrigues, flagged the sorry state of the Children’s Park, at Caranzalem, on the outskirts of Goa's capital Panjim. Built through the public exchequer by spending lakhs of rupees, the once bustling park is in an appalling and dilapidated condition.
Broken play equipment including slides and swings, filthy toilets, and hazardous structures put our children's safety at risk. The gazebo there has lost its roof and the entire dangerous structure is rusted in its entirety.
The beachside park where many have spent their childhood wonder years is no longer safe today. The entire play area has been invaded by bushes. It is unsafe to venture there due to the presence of snakes and other small animals.
The toilets are dirty and unusable. There is need to provide a safe and well-maintained play equipment, clean and hygienic toilets, proper drainage and adequate safety measures.
Liquor bottles in the park suggest that the place is being used by anti-social elements for drinking alcohol by night. The security guard which used to keep watch on the park have long since stopped patrolling the park.
Can the government of Goa, restore, renovate and clean up the dilapidated park as a present to our stressed out children and give them back their childhood?