India, Nov. 13 -- Bal Diwas is a reminder that children are not merely the citizens of tomorrow but citizens today, entitled to care, opportunity, protection and dignity

Bal Diwas, the children's day, commemorates the birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru, who was particularly fond of children. Children are the future of any country, yet more than seven decades after Independence, the question is whether India has done enough to give every child an equal opportunity to grow, learn and live with dignity.

To be fair, we have come a long way from the sixties, when malnutrition and child exploitation were the norm, as most children worked to earn a living, keeping them away from formal education. It changed with the Right to Education Act, ...