E-Paper
Childline rescued 226 kids from railway stations in Ludhiana in 2022
In November this year, four-year-old Lakshmi, a specially-abled child, was found abandoned in the waiting lounge of the Ludhiana railway station, she was among the 226 kids- 122 boys and 115 girls - rescued by Childline Ludhiana, which works under the aegis of Childline -1098
In November this year, four-year-old Lakshmi, a specially-abled child, was found abandoned in the waiting lounge of the Ludhiana railway station, when she was spotted by volunteers of Childline Ludhiana. She was lodged at a children’s home till her mother arrived.
Lakshmi was among the 226 children - 122 boys and 115 girls - rescued by Childline Ludhiana, which works under the aegis of Childline -1098, a service of the Union ministry of women and child development. In order to curb the cases of child trafficking and child labour, the dedicated component of Childline, was started at major railway stations across the country in 2018.
The children were rescued from different railway stations in Ludhiana including Dhandari Kalan, Nanaksar, Goraya Phillaur, Jagroan and Mullapur, which fall under its jurisdiction. Officials at the district unit of Childline India foundation’s railway initiative, which has a total of 11 staff members, said that swiftly acting upon the total 237 distress calls forwarded by the Northern office was a key factor in rescuing the children.
They said that 41 children were handed over to the district child welfare committee and 95 were handed over to the parents and guardians of the children with the help of the Government Railway Police(GRP) and Railway Protection Force(RPF).
They added that the organisation has put up banners at all the major railway stations so that the passengers and authorities can immediately inform them in case they come across any under the age of 18 children in need of help. The volunteers shared that around 70% of the rescued children are under the age group of 10 to 18 and most of them are found to have run away from home after an argument or misunderstanding with their parents.
Kulwinder Singh, co-ordinator Childline Ludhiana, said, “As almost 80 % children belong to the migrant population with their parents living in other states, the organisation has four shelter homes where these children are kept until their parents receive them.”
He said that as railway stations see massive footfall throughout the year, the missing children used to fall prey to gangs involved in child trafficking and child begging. He said that the helpline has helped in curbing this menace to a large extent.
He added that a new branch of the childline is set to be started at the Jalandhar railway station in the coming days.
