Specially-abled student becomes West Bengal Unicef chief for a day

Kolkata: Riya Sardar, a specially-abled Class IX student, symbolically assumed the chair of the chief of Unicef in West Bengal on the occasion of World Children's Day on Wednesday as part of the Unicef's "Kids' Takeover" programme. She urged the authorities to include the opinions of children in their decision-making process.Riya faces difficulty in walking and uses a wheelchair to move around. Assisted to sit on the chair of the Unicef chief for a day, Riya, who hails from Vidyanagar village at Bishnupur-II block in South 24-Parganas district, decided that the officials of this UN body would meet the children once annually and their opinions would be included during planning for children's development programmes."Initially, there was no ramp in the toilet in our school. With the help of our school authorities, a ramp is now built. Classes are now held on the ground floor of the school after my father requested the teachers that children like me face difficulty in walking up to the upper floors. I want that no physically challenged children should face any problem in school and other places," Riya, the daughter of a small businessman, said.Unicef officials pledged to implement the decisions taken by Riya as their chief for the day. Officials said that an annual meeting with the children would be organised as part of their ‘Listen to the Future' movement and that children participating in decision-making will be promoted.In a separate Kids' Takeover programme held at Berhampore in Murshidabad, Soumiki Chakraborty, a Class XII student, took over the chair of the editor of a community-based TV channel for a day and decided to broadcast at least one news item every month on issues that concern the children of the district.
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