Children’s Day in India: Celebrating the dreams, rights, and future of the nation
Heramba Nath
Each year, on 14th November, India celebrates Children’s Day — a day of joy, laughter, and inspiration that reminds us of our moral, social, and emotional duties towards the youngest members of our society. Known as Bal Diwas in Hindi, the day is observed across the country with affection and enthusiasm. However, beyond the songs, dances, and colourful school programmes lies a deeper truth — that the future of India depends on how well we nurture, educate, and protect its children. The celebration is not just about happiness; it is a solemn reminder that the soul of a nation is reflected in the lives of its children.
Children’s Day in India marks the birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India, who was born on 14th November 1889. His deep affection for children and his unwavering belief in their potential earned him the endearing title of “Chacha Nehru.” He often said, “The children of today will make the India of tomorrow. The way we bring them up will determine the future of our country.” For Nehru, children were not just the receivers of care but the creators of destiny — the torchbearers of a free, fair, and progressive nation.
Before 1964, India celebrated Universal Children’s Day on 20th November, in line with the United Nations’ observance. However, after Nehru’s death, the Indian Parliament decided to celebrate his birthday as Children’s Day in recognition of his genuine love for children and his commitment to their education and welfare. The shift was more than symbolic — it gave the day a uniquely Indian meaning, connecting it deeply to the ideals of democracy, equality, and compassion.
Across schools, colleges, and child welfare institutions, 14th November is observed with creative joy. Teachers perform plays, distribute sweets, and allow students to take charge of activities for the day. Children dress in bright colours, recite poems, and sing songs about Nehru’s vision of a nation built on education and equality. Yet, while such celebrations light up classrooms, the true purpose of the day lies beyond the festive cheer — it lies in introspection, in evaluating how far we have progressed in ensuring the rights, dignity, and well-being of every child in India.
India is home to more than 472 million children, accounting for nearly one-third of its total population. This vast young population represents both a promise and a challenge. It is a promise because in the dreams of children lies the strength and imagination that can shape the future of the country; and it is a challenge because millions of these children are still deprived of education, health, and safety. Their dreams are often suffocated by poverty, inequality, and neglect.
Nowhere is this contrast more visible than in the state of Assam, a land of breathtaking natural beauty yet deep social inequalities. Behind the green hills, tea gardens, and busy towns lie the silent stories of thousands of children who are denied a happy childhood. Child labour remains one of the most distressing realities of Assam, cutting across regions and communities. In the tea gardens of Upper Assam, young boys and girls are seen plucking leaves alongside their parents, exposed to heat, rain, and insect bites. Many of these children have never entered a classroom. Their families, bound by generations of economic hardship, view their children’s work as essential for survival.
In the brick industries of Lower Assam and the peripheries of Guwahati, small children can be seen moulding bricks, carrying loads of clay, or helping adults with heavy labour. These innocent hands, meant to hold pencils and crayons, are instead hardened by toil. Similarly, in the slum areas of urban Assam, children are forced to take up odd jobs — collecting plastic bottles, washing dishes, or working as domestic helpers. The cruelty of their condition is often invisible to the urban eye; they become part of the background noise of daily life, their voices unheard.
It is especially sorrowful that so many of these children are found working as hotel boys in small roadside eateries, tea stalls, or dhabas across Assam. They wake up before sunrise, serve customers, clean tables, wash utensils, and work late into the night for meagre wages. Many of them sleep on the floors of these establishments, away from their parents and the comfort of home. Their eyes, tired yet hopeful, tell stories of silent endurance. These children are not lazy or careless; they are the victims of a system that has failed to protect them. Poverty, illiteracy, and social neglect have robbed them of their childhood.
The sight of a child serving tea instead of attending school is a moral question that society must confront with honesty. Each such child symbolises not only a personal tragedy but a national failure. The existence of child labour in a country that boasts of constitutional guarantees for education and welfare reflects a painful contradiction between law and life.
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016, prohibits the employment of children below 14 years in all occupations and adolescents (aged 14 to 18) in hazardous industries. Yet, these laws remain ineffective unless implemented with compassion, awareness, and strong local action. In Assam, as in many other states, enforcement is weak because poverty forces parents to send their children to work. For a family struggling to earn even one square meal a day, the wages earned by a child, however small, can mean survival. Therefore, the solution cannot come from punishment alone; it must come from empowerment — by providing families with stable income, affordable education, and social security.
The Right to Education Act (RTE) of 2009 and the Mid-Day Meal Scheme have helped millions of children stay in school, but the work is far from complete. Many schools in rural Assam still lack basic facilities such as clean toilets, proper classrooms, and trained teachers. Floods frequently damage schools in riverine areas, leaving children without learning spaces for months. Digital learning, which expanded rapidly after the COVID-19 pandemic, remains largely inaccessible to poor children who lack smartphones or internet connectivity.
Pandit Nehru’s belief that education is the most powerful instrument of social change must therefore be revived with urgency and sincerity. He saw education not merely as a tool for employment but as a means of cultivating character, curiosity, and citizenship. He envisioned schools as temples of knowledge where children could think freely and creatively. To realise that dream, India must treat education as a moral right rather than an administrative duty.
Beyond education, child health and nutrition remain critical challenges. According to the National Family Health Survey, a significant percentage of children in India — and in Assam — continue to suffer from malnutrition, stunted growth, and anaemia. A hungry child cannot learn; a malnourished child cannot dream. Ensuring access to nutritious food, clean water, and healthcare is as vital as building classrooms. Programmes like the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and Poshan Abhiyaan must be expanded with efficiency, especially in the rural and tea garden regions of Assam where undernutrition is high.
Children’s Day must also be a moment to recognise the emotional and psychological needs of children. In the digital age, where competition, social media, and urban pressures dominate young lives, mental health has emerged as a silent crisis. The rising number of cases of depression, anxiety, and stress among school students, especially after the pandemic, demands compassionate attention. Education should not be reduced to examination results or career pressures. Schools must become spaces where children are allowed to fail, to experiment, to question, and to grow emotionally as well as intellectually.
Pandit Nehru often spoke about the innocence and purity of children, describing them as “the buds that should be carefully nurtured, as they are the future of the nation and the citizens of tomorrow.” However, the harsh reality today is that many such “buds” are being crushed before they can bloom. The exploitation of children in the name of poverty or social compulsion cannot be justified. Protecting children is not an act of generosity — it is a moral duty and a constitutional obligation.
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, are important steps in ensuring the safety of children. But the effectiveness of these laws depends on awareness, sensitivity, and the willingness of society to speak up against abuse. In many cases, especially in rural Assam, social stigma prevents families from reporting crimes against children. Therefore, a cultural transformation is as important as legal enforcement.
Children’s Day, when observed with sincerity, should serve as a reminder that childhood is sacred. It is a time for dreaming, learning, and exploring the world with wonder. Every child, whether born in a city apartment or a thatched hut in a tea garden, deserves the same right to smile, to play, and to hope.
In Assam’s villages and small towns, the celebration of Children’s Day can become a catalyst for change. Local administrations, schools, and NGOs must organise awareness campaigns, community meetings, and cultural events that highlight children’s rights and education. The participation of parents, tea garden managers, and community leaders can make these efforts more sustainable. The goal should be simple but profound — that no child in Assam should have to choose between hunger and education.
The celebration of Children’s Day across India must also align with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which India ratified in 1992. The four pillars of this convention — survival, protection, development, and participation — summarise the very essence of what a just society must provide to its children.
Pandit Nehru’s dream for India was one of modernity built upon human values. He saw science and education as the twin forces that could liberate India from ignorance and poverty. Today, as the world moves into the era of artificial intelligence and global competition, India’s progress depends on how it educates and protects its young generation. The children of today must not only learn mathematics and science but also empathy, tolerance, and responsibility. They must grow into citizens who value justice over greed, compassion over power, and truth over convenience.
As we look around, we see two Indias — one where children celebrate Children’s Day in air-conditioned classrooms with colourful balloons and sweets, and another where children labour in fields, hotels, or factories. The existence of this divide is a moral warning. The real test of a nation is not in how it treats its powerful but in how it protects its powerless. The tears of a single child denied education are enough to question the meaning of freedom itself.
Therefore, the true celebration of Children’s Day will not be found in speeches or songs but in action — in ensuring that every child in Assam and across India can live a life of dignity and opportunity. It will be found in classrooms filled with laughter instead of factories filled with cries, in families that value education over income, and in policies that place children at the centre of national development.
Children are not only the future of India; they are its present hope — living symbols of innocence, resilience, and potential. Their well-being defines the moral strength of the country. Pandit Nehru believed that children were like flowers in a garden — each unique, beautiful, and deserving of care. It is our collective duty to tend that garden, to nurture every child, and to ensure that no bud withers in the darkness of neglect.
As India observes yet another Children’s Day, the nation must pause and reflect: Are we truly building the India that Chacha Nehru dreamed of — an India where every child, regardless of background, can touch the sky with confidence? The answer lies not in what we say but in what we do — in how many children we rescue from labour, how many we enrol in school, and how many we empower with hope.
When every child in the tea gardens of Assam, in the brick industries, in the slums, and in the villages can smile without fear, study without hunger, and dream without limits, only then will the spirit of Children’s Day shine in its truest form. That day will be the real tribute to Pandit Nehru’s vision — a nation built on the laughter of its children and the strength of its humanity.