Fear not while reporting child labour  or abuse, Karo Childline Se Dosti  today

BENGALURU : Childline will observe a Childline Se Dosti (CSD) Week for the whole month of November and will observe a ‘Childline Se Dosti’ week starting from today.It is an awareness campaign that aims to inform the public about the helpline and child rights and for people to play their part in protecting children. The initiative was started by three organisations that work on child rights namely – Child Rights Trust, the nodal agency for Childline in Bengaluru, and Childline’s collaborators Bosco and the Association of People Social Action (APSA). The aim is to reach around 50,000 people in a week’s time. Several schools, colleges and other areas such as slums will also be reached through the initiative. 

Nagasimha G Rao, executive director, Child Rights Trust, says that in most cases people are aware about Childline but they are not sure how to report cases and are scared to get involved in any sort of legal hassles. “I get many calls on a daily basis. However, in most cases, people just vaguely mention that a child marriage is taking place in one locality or a case of child labour has been discovered by the caller. They do not give the particulars of cases,” says Rao.

The campaign aims to inform people that nothing will happen to them because they would be helping the cause of protecting a child.  “There was a case where one individual called me and wanted to report a case of child labour in Majestic.

However, he would not tell where exactly in Majestic. I want to tell people that there is nothing to be scared of. Your names will.not even figure anywhere in an FIR or court case,” says Rao.“We also plan to visit 10 recognised slums in the city and many other places where we think such awareness will help,” he adds.