The need to remembers and address the holistic well being of the child is clearly defined in the ROC, which has been ratified by nearly all countries. It clearly sets out and describes a set of child rights which constitute the fundamental standard to which all countries should orient their policy and practice and it implies that all relevant rights should always be taken into consideration, not only the single one which may superficially appear to relate to concern of the moment. Thus, while the CRC explicitly grants children the right to be protected from all forms of exploitation, it is important in policy formulation to ensure that the universal rights for all children are provided for within this convention including their right to education, recreation, health and especially participation in decisions effecting their welfare are met.Here comes the need to create awareness and sensitise children as well as the community about their rights, which have been provided by UN convention on the rights of the child and by the constitution of India.

Casp-Plan aim is to initiate the children's confidence, hope, joy and above all a sense of self worth and self-determination. It also aims at sensitizing the community, Government officials, politicians and media regarding problems faced by children and children's rights of the various creative programs organized for children. The most prominent one is Bal Panchayat, theatre workshop, and creative workshop and photography workshop.

The seed of Bal Panchayat was sown in 1996 when CASP PLAN in a bid to involve children in development programs, hosted a five-day creative workshop in Delhi. Sixty children from all program areas ranging 10-12 years of age were invited to attend the workshop. The idea behind organizing the workshop was to build rapport with children and at the same time gain an understanding of children's views, about their lives and their surroundings.
It was also hoped that the workshop would also provide vital clues as to how Casp Plan could best help children.

The first day of the workshop saw children putting forth their opinions on 'who is a child?' and what rights they have. The children came up with some very interesting and sometimes funny answers like 'a child is one, who drinks one litre of milk' or it is child's right that a poor child be allowed to watch TV at a rich child's house'. Some answers were more accurate with children defining child right as 'right to food, clothes and a house' or right to education. The children also acted out short arts on the topics of food, water, play education and health. These acts were enlightening since they depicted the reality of children's conditions and what they felt about them. For example in the act titled food children presented a real life incident. They enacted a family in which the family head, the father, loses his job and there is nothing to eat in the house. The children are hungry and mother angry. The mother sends the father to a moneylender and to some friends to ask for a loan. However, he is unable to do so. In the meanwhile the elder sister of the family comes home from her in-laws house since they do not give her anything to eat.

The mother feeds the sister but the other children have to go hungry. Similarly the act on play, showed children who return home from school and get ready to go out and play. However, the father calls the son to help him at his tea stall, while the girls are asked by the mother to help with the household chores.

The role played by the moneylender in the lives of children and the effect of poverty on their mental make up was quite evident in these presentations. At the end of the day children were encouraged to speak to parents and friends and discuss their rights and role as a child.

The second day of the workshop picked up the thread of the first day with children putting forth many new views of what a child and his rights are. Many children opined that anyone below the age of 18 is a child making it clear that parents were aware of the constitutional age of children. Children also discussed the right to survival, development and participation in different contexts with the example of a girl child who was killed because she was a girl. They discussed how dowry and illiteracy make girls helpless and incapable of leading a full, happy life.

The children were then asked to think of rights to survival, right to development and right to participation in different contexts. Subsequently, children were introduced to various art and craft such as painting, cutting & pasting etc. through which they expressed their feelings on subjects that affect them such as education, need for clean water, need to be self relined and so on.

Following day children were taught and encouraged to express themselves through written and spoken language. Resource persons discussed with children movies, songs and dreams. They discussed how dreams could be put in words and children were given stories to complete. The children discussed the stories with the resource person in great detail including what their stories told about their feelings and perceptions. Discussions also ranged the importance of literacy and the fact that man is the only living being who uses words to express feelings and to communicate. Through their stories children also revealed that they realized the value of education and literacy since without them children were more vulnerable to exploitation.

The final days of the workshop exposed children to origami, theatre and movement. Children learnt to make different flowers, to do different movement exercises, to sing & play instruments like harmonium. They also presented plays on topics of their choosing and gave feedback on the workshop and how CASP PLAN could further assist them.
The interaction with children during this meet made the volunteers realize that most of children were enthusiastic about being involved in something, but they had no awareness of the world beyond their own surroundings. There was a feeling of helplessness amongst them regarding the course of their life. They wished to change it for the better but could not conceive doing so by them.

Realizing that children needed a lot of preparation and encouragement before they could be brought to self-reliance, CASP PLAN devised the Bal Panchayat Program. The concept was taken from the Indian judicial system where each village has its own Panchayat (a group of elected five village elders) which is responsible for village matters and development. Also the concept was perceived as being easy to understand since most of children were from villages and would be familiar with a Panchayat.