NCPCR recommends one nation one election, says it will benefit students

The NCPCR Monday recommended "one nation one election" proposal, saying teachers who remain occupied due to multiple polls would be able to give more time to students if simultaneous elections were held.

Priyank Kanungo, member of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said such elections would benefit children the most.

The commission have undertaken a desk review regarding implementation of section 27 of the Right to Education Act and involvement of teachers in non-academic activities.

After perusal of the relevant reports and data, it has been observed that repeated engagements of teachers in election-related activities result in loss of precious academic time of students.

Since school infrastructure and resources are also utilised during elections, 10 day per election are spent in the election related activities, the NCPCR report said.

As ensuring fundamental rights of all children is a collective responsibility of all, the NCPCR has detailed out a representation with specific recommendations highlighting the ways in which the Election Commission can contribute towards ensuring right to all children.

Also, given the ongoing debate on 'one nation, one election', it is requested to approach the issue keeping in mind its probable contributions towards right to education to all children, the report said.

Elaborating on the recommendations, Kanungo said most deprived children pay the cost for elections.

"A state gives two rights to children - building of schools and hiring teachers. Multiple elections cause teachers to be involved in poll duties which result in children missing out on education," he said.

"One nation one election will decrease the exploitation of resources for children five times," he added.

A total of 47.3 lakh teachers are working in government schools out of which 15.14 per cent teachers played the role of booth level officers in 2015-16, the report said.