November 14 is observed every year as Children’s Day This day also marks the birth anniversary of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, our first Prime Minister, better known to the children as ‘Chacha Nehru’. Pandit Nehru loved children and his birth anniversary is rightly dedicated to the children of the land only to remind us of what he said...“the process of building men and women depends very considerably on what is done to children. It is, therefore, of great importance that we pay attention to the well-being and growth of children.”
Observance of Children’s Day helps us to renew our commitment to our social and moral responsibility towards the needs and rights of children. It is, therefore, appropriate that we all join hands and resolve on this day to bestow undivided attention on children for their well-being.
The theme this year for the Children’s Day is ‘Children and Environment’. A clean physical environment has a significant role in the overall growth of a child. Environmental pollution has resulted in gradual depletion of natural resources and is thus depriving mankind of essential amenities like clean drinking water, fresh air and sanitation. The unique balance of nature is now in danger and this in turn is weakening the essential life-support systems based on land, water and air. It is imperative that we realise the grave danger that lies ahead for mankind if this continues unabated. We should not fail to perceive the peril that awaits our children in such a world. Our children should be made aware of this too, so that they on their own, join hands with the adults and do all they can to grow up to a life of health and happiness in a less polluted world.
This year, Children’s Day is being observed with a nationwide campaign for child care. The message ‘We care for you dear Children’ is to be spread all round and the special programmes arranged on this day include drives for immunisation, nutrition programmes, exhibition of toys, films and dresses for children.
The Department of Posts is happy to be associated with the observance of this special day by issuing a special postage stamp this year. The design for the stamp is based on a painting, ‘The Sun’, by six year old Master Harshit Prashant Patel a prize winner in the Shankar’s International Competition for Children help in 1989. The bright yellow picture of the Sun reminiscent of the Sunflower portrays, through the imagination of the child-painter a sense of the grandeur and majesty which the sun radiates. But there is a touch of fun as well in the personified visage which is really the hall-mark of a child-a child can still appreciate the joy nature gives us.
Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India