In a bid to give a helping hand to and counsel ‘runaway’ or missing children, a special ‘child-friendly room/counselling room’ has been started at the Pune railway station. This is the first such counselling room started at any of the railway stations in Maharashtra and the third such in the country. This room was inaugurated on Friday by the Pune divisional railway manager (DRM) Renu Sharma.
The initiative was taken by the Central Railway (CR) along with the women and child development department, Pune, and Hope for the Children Foundation. On this occasion, the founder and chief executive officer of Hope for the Children Foundation, Caroline Audoir De Valter; former member of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Rupa Kapoor; RPF Pune divisional security commissioner Uday Singh Pawar; and Pune railway station director Suresh Chandra Jain were present along with other dignitaries.
“Thousands of children go missing or are trafficked in India 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. We aim to introduce Maharashtra’s first child-friendly railway station model by starting this child-friendly room. Our counsellors will help the child who needs help or has gone missing and any kind of help will be provided by counselling and making him/her comfortable,” said Caroline.
Also, ‘child-friendly jackets’ have been launched as part of the inauguration programme on Friday. These jackets are specially designed in bright, eye-catching colours so that policemen don’t come across as cops but as friends offering support to kids and even parents can easily reach out to them for assistance.
{{/usCountry}}Also, ‘child-friendly jackets’ have been launched as part of the inauguration programme on Friday. These jackets are specially designed in bright, eye-catching colours so that policemen don’t come across as cops but as friends offering support to kids and even parents can easily reach out to them for assistance.
{{/usCountry}}“It is a proud movement for all of us to provide this facility at our station and this is the first step towards making our stations free of any kind of child trafficking or violence. We have provided dedicated space to this room in the main building on platform number 1 and our RPF policemen are always alert about any child in distress or suspicious movement and immediately provide a helping hand to them,” said DRM Renu Sharma.