In less than three years since its launch, the Railway Child Help Desk (RCHD) operating from the Ernakulam Junction station has rescued 507 children, including 66 girls. While over 50% of the children rescued from trains and the station were from Kerala, the rest were from other States, predominantly Bihar. A majority of the rescued children were aged between 15 and 18 years.
It was on June 7, 2018, that the RCHD started operating from the first platform of the station as a joint initiative of the district administration, the Ministries of Railway and Women and Child Development, and Sahrudaya Child Welfare Service. It was set up in view of the growing incidents of child exploitation on account of Kochi’s rising profile as a city of opportunities. Three similar help desks operate in Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Thrissur. “A majority of the rescued children from within Kerala were found to have fled broken families or run away for trivial reasons such as being scolded or denied desired gadgets. Children from outside are mostly victims of child labour and though they are alone when we rescue them, the presence of their family members or relatives accompanying them in the vicinity could not be ruled out,” said Shano Jose, coordinator, RCHD, Ernakulam.
The help desk officials take the rescued children back to their families, often accompanying them to their homes even outside the State. There were instances in which mentally challenged children were rescued and tracing their addresses proved to be a Herculean task.
Rescued children stay at the child care institutions till they are back with their families. The absence of a care facility for boys was a major headache in the past though it was addressed after Don Bosco offered a new building for the purpose.
“Even after they are reunited, we keep following up their condition and reach out to the respective police stations concerned to ensure they are safe. We also run awareness and sensitisation programmes. During the lockdown, we had run a programme called Wonder Train, giving children a task every day to facilitate familial bonding,” said Mr. Jose.
The operations of the help desk were scaled down following the outbreak of the pandemic and total disruption of train services. Round-the-clock services were resumed last month. The help desk is being run by 12 staff members deployed in three shifts.
