Every year, the Government Reception Unit in Chennai that takes in boys who have run away from their homes sees around 1,000 children.
Since many are from other parts of the country who arrive at the various railway stations in the city, finding their parents and helping them go back home poses a major challenge, said P. Manorama, founder of the non-governmental organisation CHES, a home for children with HIV/AIDS.
“We often get several children from north-eastern states and sorely lack volunteers to translate for us so that we can understand what they are saying,” she said, at a media consultation held on Saturday.
About a dozen presspersons participated in the consultation, where issues ranging from lack of support services to abuse and how the school system can help were discussed.
“When the atmosphere at home is abusive or violent or when one parent has left, some children tend to run away. Often, they take a train and end up in different parts of the country. At first, the children are usually happy — they experience freedom and are away from the situation at home. But about a week later, 90 per cent of them get scared and want to go back,” Ms. Manorama said.
In order to communicate with them and find out their hometown, volunteers who could translate various Indian languages would be welcome, she said. “We get children from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh as well as several north-eastern states,” an official from CHES said.
The consultation also discussed ways and means the media could help in getting the children reunited with their families and ensuring they did not enter the workforce again.
To volunteer, contact: 9444077177.
