‘Don’t use Bal Bhavan as strongroom’

PANAJI: The commission for the protection of child rights on Thursday requested the chief electoral officer, Altinho, to refrain from using Bal Bhavan, Panaji, as a strongroom for the Lok Sabha election and the three bypolls. It stated that converting the facility, located in Campal, into a strongroom is in violation of the rights of children.
Work, however, is already underway to convert Bal Bhavan into a strongroom where the EVMs and VVPATs for North Goa will be stored after polling day, April 23, and kept till counting day, May 23.
The commission said that nearly 1,000 children participate in various cultural activities in various disciplines such as tabla, harmonium, Hindustani vocal, guitar, ukelele, kathak, bharatnatyam, art, craft, flower making, clay modelling, photography, drawing, theatre and personality development conducted as part of the annual Bal Bhavan summer camp.
But, this is not the first such incident. In the 2017 assembly elections, too, children had to make do with just six rooms and one large hall which was partitioned into makeshift classrooms. The facility was also used as a strong room during the 2014 general elections.