Children driving local community change, Caritas report shows

NEW DELHI (Indian Catholic News) — Children are emerging as active participants in local governance, helping identify community problems and push for solutions, a Caritas India report says.

Caritas India’s June 2026 compendium, Young Power: Children as Agents of Change, presents stories from its Khushaal Bachpan (happy childhood) programme in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh showing children taking part in local governance and helping address community problems.

Father Jesudass R., executive director of Caritas India, said the stories demonstrate the “remarkable leadership, courage, and agency of children in shaping their communities.”  He said Caritas India believes children are “not merely beneficiaries of development efforts but rights holders and active contributors to social transformation.”

He adds that when children are given “opportunities, encouragement, and supportive spaces,” they can emerge as leaders capable of influencing decisions and bringing about positive change.

Through the happy childhood programme children are encouraged to understand their rights, organise through Bal Panchayats (children’s councils) and participate in Gram Sabhas (village assemblies) and other local decision-making forums.

On April 14, children’s collectives supported by the programme submitted 63 memoranda in 25 Gram Panchayats (village councils), presenting priorities and demands affecting their communities.

The report says such participation is “not merely symbolic” and that informed, organised and supported children can contribute meaningfully to local development.

Children take community issues to authorities

The stories document children raising concerns ranging from unsafe school buildings and poor roads to inadequate sanitation, drinking water and electricity.

In Remhla village in Chhattisgarh’s Sarguja district, children used a Bal Panchayat meeting to address a deteriorating middle school building. Cracks had appeared in the walls, the roof leaked and plaster occasionally fell.

Pawan Pando, a Class 7 student and Bal Panchayat president, said, “Every day we enter that classroom is a risk. If we keep waiting, something bad will happen. We must act now.”

The children documented the damage and raised the issue at a Gram Sabha. After a temporary arrangement proved inadequate, they proposed moving the middle school to an unused village council hall. The Gram Sabha approved the relocation, and the building was prepared as a school.

“When we sat in the new classroom for the first time, it felt like a new life,” said Bal Panchayat member Ansh Kumar. “We felt safe. We felt heard.”

In Sihardand village in Jashpur district, children raised the poor condition of a road that affected access to school, health services, markets and government offices. Their memorandum was discussed at a Gram Sabha, and construction of an all-weather concrete road began within a month. The road opened to villagers in April 2026.

Collective action brings practical changes

The compendium also describes children and mothers working together to improve safety on a forest road in Kataipali village of Raigarh district, where elephants frequently moved through the area.

The groups prepared a memorandum seeking guards and a shelter. The Forest Department later constructed a shelter and deployed two guards along the route. By the end of April 2026, the guards were escorting villagers travelling after 5:30 p.m. until they crossed the forest stretch safely.

In Chhadia village in the Raipur district of Chhattisgarh, members of a Bal Panchayat campaigned for a functional girls’ toilet. After the children raised the issue with school and village authorities, an existing but unused facility was repaired and opened for the girls.

“We wrote that girls should have the same basic facilities as boys in the school,” said Ritu, president of the Bal Panchayat.

In Sihardand, another Bal Panchayat took action when a school hand pump stopped working. The children submitted a memorandum to the village Sarpanch (head), and the pump was repaired within five days.

“We have learned that children also have the right to speak and demand what is necessary for us,” one member said.

Participation strengthens local governance

The compendium argues that children’s participation can also help local institutions become more responsive to community needs.

It says children can identify problems, prioritise concerns, propose solutions and engage directly with decision-makers. Their experiences in education, health, sanitation, safety and social inclusion can bring issues that adults may overlook into local decision-making.

“Children possess tremendous power to influence social change,” the report says, adding that their “moral authority, clarity of purpose, and collective voice” can mobilise communities and prompt governance systems to respond.

Caritas India implements Khushaal Bachpan in five districts of Chhattisgarh, with support from Caritas Australia. The programme seeks to strengthen children’s awareness, confidence and leadership skills so they can participate as informed rights holders.

The compendium links this approach to Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which recognizes children’s right to express their views in matters affecting them and to have those views given due weight according to their age and maturity.

Read the full report.