New Delhi, Nov 14 (IANS) Cultural programmes were held in several schools, NGOs took street children on a trip to the zoo and distributed warm clothes to brave the winter chill - Children’s Day was celebrated in a variety of ways in the capital Saturday to commemorate the birth anniversary of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
President Pratibha Patil too joined in the celebrations by meeting school students and wishing them at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on the occasion.

While many schools declared a holiday, special cultural programmes were organised in several other schools where teachers put up shows for the students.

Taking the celebrations to those less privileged, NGO Save the Children organised a trip to the zoo for 40 street kids.

“All around the country, there will be celebrations, which is fantastic but there are millions of children in this country for whom Children’s Day means nothing. That is why we are trying to make a difference by making the day a fun filled one for some of them,” Ananthapriya Subramanian of Save the Children told IANS.

Some other NGOs like Bachpan Bachao Andolan, which works on child rights, joined hands with the city’s Maxfort school and distributed winter clothes to the underprivileged children on the special day.

The ministry of women and child development awarded the National Child Awards to 25 children for their outstanding achievement in different fields like art, music, dance, sports and science.

Using the occasion to highlight the important issue of the right to education, NGO CRY started a nationwide campaign Saturday called the ‘Sabko Shiksha Samaan Shiksha’.

The campaign calls for ammendment to the Right to Education Act, 2009, to make education accessible to all. In the present form, the Act talks about compulsory education to children in the age group of six to 14.