Child rights organisations and activists have stressed the need for guidelines for the participation of children in large gatherings, including rallies.

Following the death of ten children in the Karur stampede at the TVK rally, various political organisations urged the State to regulate children’s participation in such rallies.

“It is of the utmost importance that we prevent any such incident in the future. We do not have guidelines for children taking part in large gatherings, but it is necessary now. It has been a long-pending request,” said P. Raja Gopal, secretary of the Child Alert Alliance.

In a letter to the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Mr. Raja said the State must issue directions to strictly monitor public events to ensure that children were not put in vulnerable or unsafe situations.

EC ban

Stating that the Election Commission (EC) prohibits the participation of children in political rallies, child psychologist Jeyanthi Rani said that parents too need to be responsible. “There was no need for an 18-month-old to be present at such a large gathering [Karur rally]. Strict regulations on the participation of children should have been put in place by authorities,” she said.

Child rights activist Devaneyan Arasu added that while the EC had strict rules regarding the participation of children, the political parties remained unaware of them. “Everybody springs into action only after an incident occurs; no move is made to prevent it. There are no guidelines on large gatherings involving children, and no data on children who might be affected by this. There is no strong monitoring body or mechanism to take action in such event,” he said.