Picture speak - Nov 10

Children's day - The History

In India, Children's Day is celebrated on November 14, after the birthday of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

He was the first Prime Minister of India after independence. As is known, he had an extreme love for children.

Nehru worked passionately for the welfare of children and youngsters soon after independence. He was keen about welfare, education, and development of children in India. He was fond of children and thus became popular as "Chacha Nehru" (Uncle Nehru) among his little admirers.

Nehru was very particular about the progress of the Indian youth. He wanted to create responsible citizens out of young boys and girls. Under his regime he established several educational institutions including All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Indian Institutes of Technology(IIT), and Indian Institutes of Management(IIM).

He included and highlighted the point in his five years plan, that every child in India would get free and compulsory primary education. Over thousands of schools were built through out the villages of India when Nehru was in power. He also brought the scheme to distribute free meals and milk to school children in India to prevent malnutrition.

He admired two things a lot - red roses and children. His love and passion towards children is the reason why we celebrate Children's Day on his birthday.

Since 1947, every year November 14th is celebrated as Children’s Day. Schools and colleges celebrate it with special events.