Name – Parth Malpani

Class 9

Aatmanirbhar Bharat - How can school children contribute to National Development?

Aatmanirbhar means self sufficiency. India is a country which is not self sufficient at this
moment but it is gradually moving towards that goal. Every place was not built in a day.
Similarly, India cannot become 'Aatmanirbhar' overnight. Nation building takes place
through years of concentrated efforts by the government and the citizens. One of the
important drivers in this are the children and youth of the nation. Their open
mindedness, education, exposure and energy levels can help bring betterment in Indian
society and they have the capability to represent India world wide, if they are coached in
the right direction. School children can hence be trained to contribute to nation
building both during their schooling days and even more so when they
become independent adults. The major campaigns that children can effectively support,
include anti- corruption, go green, rural initiatives, promotion of Indian goods by
advertisement with the help of small children.

Corruption is known to ruin the effectiveness of the most innovative and progressive
government policies. The policies cannot be fully implemented till the time the nation is
not corruption free. Children can greatly change this trend by consciously fighting
dishonesty even at the smallest levels and being vocal about it. The children should be
trained with the values to stop corruption and soon that will become ingrained in them.
In a few years, they will become the anti-corruption vote bank of the nation and hence in
formulating government policies for Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

Additionally, national progress is greatly hindered by high pollution levels. Pollution

causes serious illnesses, like cancer and also brings down the global rating of a
nation. Children can effectively promote the concept of reduce, reuse and recycle within
their own homes. This step itself will drastically reduce the carbon
footprints and improve the general standard of living. They should also promote the stop
throwing in water as there is very less water left now and also this will help to sustain
water for long period of time.
Further, though traditionally India has been an agrarian society, of late the focus has
shifted to urbanization. As a result people in the rural pockets of India suffer from
backwardness and poverty. Since agriculture forms the backbone of sustainability and
self-reliance, it is important to uplift these sections of society. Apart from agriculture the
people of village should also be taught to do some other jobs like opening their own
cottage industry which will help in giving jobs to people who are unemployed which will
also help to make India Aatmanirbhar. School children can play a role by promoting
the purchase of locally produced handicrafts by villagers. This will provide direct
financial assistance to those in the rural areas, eliminate middle men and eventually
bring the rural population into the mainstream.
School children may be young, with limited resources but when they will work together
they will make a potent force of about 180 million individuals who can, gradually help
India to achieve self-reliance and become Aatmanirbhar Bharat.