In their efforts to tackle rising violence against children in Coimbatore, the 1098 Childline helpline is grappling with staff crunch and lack of adequate funds.
At present, eight employees and a volunteer are working in Childline to cover the entire district. Under coordinator S. Umadevi, six members and a counsellor are employed.
In case of Railway Childline, nine employees and three volunteers are involved in dealing with runaway cases or cases of violence against children at the Coimbatore Railway Station. A counsellor and seven members work under N. Aruchamy, centre coordinator, Coimbatore Railway Childline.
According to Childline officials, the salary for coordinators is ₹ 14,000 and the team members receive ₹ 8,000 a month.
“For an entire district, having just eight members is very difficult,” a Childline official said. Based in Don Bosco Anbu Illam, Ukkadam, the District Childline receives about 120 calls every month through the 1098 Childline helpline from throughout the district. “We have to send two members to the spot,” the official said.
With a counsellor and a member working night shifts, handling multiple complaints in daytime becomes difficult, according to the official.
An official from the Railway Childline said that at least 15 members were required to monitor the railway station round the clock as well as to receive calls from the 1098 helpline. “The salary remains this way for the past six years,” the official said. The Child Help Desk was set up in Coimbatore Railway Station in April 2018 in collaboration with the Centre for Social Education and Development, Avinashi, Tiruppur district.
Increasing cases
According to the Childline data for the district, 71 cases of child marriage were reported between April and October this year, while 87 cases were reported between April 2018 and March 2019. Regarding abuse, 65 cases of child labour, 21 cases of child sexual abuse, 86 cases of physical abuse and 27 cases of corporal punishment were recorded by Childline between April and October this year alone.
For Railway Childline, a total of 198 runaway cases were recorded between April 2018 and March 2019. However, between April and October this year, 106 cases have been already registered. These runaway cases involving adolescents from northern parts of India boarding trains to Coimbatore are on the rise, according to the Railway Childline data. “We are closely monitoring trains from Bihar, Visakhapatnam and Odisha,” the official said, as they rescued more children coming from these places as well as from Tiruppur and Mettupalayam.
To tackle this situation, the District Childline and Railway Childline are planning to conduct more outreach programmes to generate awareness next year. “We are conducting awareness programmes in schools on overcoming fear of examinations,” the Railway Childline official said, as many children and adolescents tend to run away from their houses owing to the fear of parents reprimanding them for scoring low marks. A target of five schools a month had been set for Railway Childline where sessions on internet management and time management would also be held, the official said.
District Childline also focuses on conducting more awareness programmes in schools and among communities such as slums to generate awareness about the ills of child marriage. “We will conduct street plays and present short films on child marriage,” according to the official.
However, both the officials noted that the programmes could be effectively implemented with more staff strength and funds in the coming year. The District Childline official said that they were also open for collaborations with corporate social responsibility initiatives for their future projects.
