Women safety, children's issues should be the priority of all govts, says one-day U'khand child CM

Dehradun, January 25

Issues related to women safety and children should be the priority of all governments, said Shrishti Goswami who was made Uttarakhand’s Chief Minister for a day on Sunday to mark the National Girl Child day.

Shrishti, 20, who has made her recommendations to the state government on a range of issues, says though women’s safety situation has certainly improved over the years, a lot still needs to be done.

“After all we are still talking about women’s safety. That means the sense of insecurity among women persists and we must address it further to improve the situation,” said a beaming Shrishti who was full of excitement after chairing a session with members of Children’s Assembly as the one-day CM.

“I have made some important suggestions to the state government on women safety, children’s issues and the problem of migration from the hill areas which will be submitted to the Chief Minister through Uttarakhand Commission for Protection of Child Rights,” she said.

Spelling out some of them, she said she has requested the DGP to devise ways to protect school or college going girls from the problem of eve-teasing so that they feel more secure while commuting.

She said she has also sought a total ban on sale of all types of intoxicants within a radius of 500 metres around educational institutions.

“Children are the future of our nation and issues related to them deserve to be addressed on priority,” Shrishti who is doing her graduation in agriculture said.

On her experience of having a one-day stint as CM, she said it could remind one of the yesteryear flick “Nayak” in which the protagonist becomes chief minister for a day but the real life experience of being at the helm of affairs of a state was different and extremely exciting. “Nayak was reel life. But my experience was real. It gave me the goosebumps,” she said and thanked Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya and Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat for giving her the opportunity.

When asked whether she had plans to enter into politics she said she may try if given a chance.

The session of Children’s Assembly was held in a hall at Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha during which Shrishti reviewed the workings of different government departments including the Police and PWD that gave their presentations on crime control measures taken and infrastructure building respectively. Leader of Opposition in the Children’s Assembly Asif Hasan also raised issues related to public interest during the session to which Shrishti and members of her Child Cabinet replied one by one.

Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said the event was a way of honouring the girls of the state which can help them find an identity of their own.

Uttarakhand is the first state in the country to give Children’s Assembly an opportunity to witness workings of the government first hand. PTI