Street children's newspaper Balaknama going digital; plans to launch YouTube channel next year

Balaknama, a newspaper being brought out by Delhis street children for the last 18 years, is now planning to go digital by launching its YouTube channel early next year.Like the newspaper, the YouTube channel will also be completely run by the street or slum-dwelling young reporters of Balaknama.

Balaknama, a newspaper being brought out by Delhi's street children for the last 18 years, is now planning to go digital by launching its YouTube channel early next year.

Like the newspaper, the YouTube channel will also be completely run by the street or slum-dwelling young reporters of Balaknama. They would depict the struggles and achievements of their fellow street children through audio and videos on the new platform.

''The YouTube channel would be run by reporters of Balaknama. We are currently giving training to these young reporters on how to work on the visual medium. Besides, we are teaching digital policy to them, so the process will take some time. We will be able to launch the platform by the end of January,'' Sanjay Gupta, Director at NGO 'Chetna', told PTI.

Chetna (Childhood enhancement through training and action) funds the printing of the newspaper.

The YouTube channel would be editorially independent as the children would take a call on what goes in it on the lines of the newspaper.

''Through this move, we want to take the struggles of street children to a large number of people,'' Gupta added.

Balaknama, a unique newspaper for and by street-connected children, came out with its first edition in 2003. At that time, it used to be published quarterly and after 2015 it started publishing it on a monthly basis. The newspaper team consists of young children who either lived or presently live in difficult circumstances.

Kishan, who is the 17-year old editor of Balaknama, himself comes from a humble background.

''I used to sell 'gutka', tobacco and betel leaves at a kiosk after the death of my father. Four years ago, I got connected with Chetna NGO that encouraged me towards studies, and today I am the editor of Balaknama newspaper. The position has given me respect,'' Kishan said.

The newspaper is an outcome of neglect and injustice to street and working children across the world. When children did not find space among adults, they decided to pen down their issues and glories, an attempt to change people's perception and ensure identity, dignity, and participation of street children.

The young reporters of the newspaper have been working to highlight the plight of fellow slum-dwelling children. They write on some serious issues ranging from child trafficking to child labour to health and hygiene conditions of street kids.

''We tell the stories of children like us. Most of the stories are those related to problems being faced by other slum-dwelling children. People nearby know that we are the Batuni reporters so sometimes they come with us and share their ordeal,'' Usha, a 14-year old Batuni reporter from Balaknama said.

Kishan said, ''some of the stories written by us caught the attention of authorities and measures have been taken too. We consider it as our achievement.'' The monthly paper is editorially independent as the children take a call on what goes in it and for this they take regular editorial meetings also, he added.

The newspaper is run by 113 reporters and an editor between the age of 10-17 years. Of the 113, as many as 110 are Batuni or talkative reporters who give the lead of the story but can't read or write. The stories given by such reporters are validated through field visits, Kishan said.

Also, they have three main reporters who write in Hindi and the content is later translated into English by others.

The team is spread in seven districts of northern India, including Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Agra and Lucknow, and meets regularly for editorial meetings.

The bilingual newspaper is the size of a tabloid with 5,000 copies published in Hindi and 3,000 in English. Besides, the newspaper PDF copies are sent to common people through WhatsApp.

Majority of the readers of the newspaper are street or slum-dwelling children. Besides, the newspaper is read by those who can impact the lives of the children, like parents of such children, NGOs and government authorities.

Archana, Street Educator at Chetna, said that the newspaper has given recognition and instilled confidence among children.

''We provide formal education to the young reporters of Balaknama. These children are now aware of their rights and they don't bear any injustice. Besides, they are making other kids aware about their rights. We have absorbed some of the young ones in our NGO after they attained the age of 18 years and few of them opened their own NGO too,'' she said.

The stories of this unique newspaper and its reporters have been gaining traction among international media. They have been widely covered in international media like BBC News, The Guardian and Gulf News and Channel 4 UK.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)