E-Paper
398 children rescued from Pune railway station, reunited with families
PUNE At least 398 children who had run away from their homes were rescued from the Pune railway station between April 2021 and March 2022
PUNE At least 398 children who had run away from their homes were rescued from the Pune railway station between April 2021 and March 2022. Out of the total children, 303 were boys, and 95 were girls.
After counselling and help from the administration, these children were reunited with their families, said, railway officials.
The initiative was undertaken with the efforts of Indian Railways, Railway Protection Force (RPF), Saathi NGO and Railway Childline (a helpline).
Every year hundreds of children run away from homes, and some are kidnapped or get into human trafficking.
“Our RPF policemen continuously monitor the suspicious movements of such children roaming on platforms and other parts of the station. With the help of Railway Childline, these kids are taken into confidence, and proper counselling is done. We then contact their family and reunite them,” said BS Raghuvanshi, RPF senior police inspector at Pune railway station.
Most of the children run away due to financial crisis at home and reach Pune and Mumbai in search of work, while some of them had run away as their family members passed away during Covid-19.
As per railways, out of these 398 children, 210 children were handed over to their parents or family members on the platform itself after counselling and verification. While the rest 188 children were rescued and reunited with their families with the help of various social organisations and NGOs like Sathi Shelter, Baramati Home, Sofosh and Dnyandeep, among others.
Recently, a ‘child-friendly room/counselling room’ was inaugurated at Pune railway station. Thousands of children go missing or are trafficked for sexual and commercial purposes. The railway stations are often the most convenient way to transport these children. While many children who arrive at the stations are subjected to severe violence or abuse, some of them have run away from their homes. Counsellors help the child to get back to their families.
