Young lawyers grill experts on old issues

Presided over by 18 year old judge Nilam Bhandari, Hamari Adalat was a courtroom with a twist. HT reports

Presided over by 18 year old judge Nilam Bhandari, Hamari Adalat was a courtroom with a twist.

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Organised by the Committed Communities Development Trust (CCDT) on Friday, this courtroom simulation at the Conventional Hall of Bombay Stock Exchange enabled young children to put dignitaries from the fields of education, health and law on trial.

The panelists grilled by the young adults included Farida Lambay, member of the Maharashtra Commission for the c, Amulya

Nidhi, leader of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Rajiv Tambe, an educationist, and lawyer Shakeel Ahmed.

Don’t bright but poor children have a right to good education after the age of 14? Why must the poor have to wait for five hours to get one medical prescription at government hospitals?

How can politicians buy votes for Rs 100 saris? These, among others, were questions that the children raised.

Lambay told the gathering that activists were lobbying for free education up Class 10 but the policy would take some time. But the children were “unsatisfied” with the answers they got.

“For some questions the panelists gave us very vague replies and a lot of our questions still remain unanswered,” said Dinesh Kamble (15), a Mahalakshmi resident.

“Policy makers are disconnected from the emotions of the children for whom they make policies,” said Ahmed.

Appreciating the initiation of the dialogue, Nidhi said, “The dialogue through forums such as this will help policy makers understand children and vice versa. This will make policies and their implementation more effective.”