The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has rescued over 300 children from different stations falling under the limits of the Tiruchi Railway Division from January 2022 to January 2023.
Boys accounted for a majority of the rescued children who were all handed over to authorities dealing with child care and protection as per the laid down standard operating procedures.
Statistics provided by the RPF revealed that 268 boys and 40 girls were rescued at various stations in the limits of Tiruchi Division during the period. The number of children rescued was more at Tiruchi Junction as compared to other stations in the division including Kumbakonam, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam and Villupuram. Around 155 children were rescued at Tiruchi Junction alone in the last one year.
Among the rescued minors, there were also runaway children who had left their homes for various personal reasons, said a senior RPF officer here. There were instances wherein children had left their home after apparently being scolded by their parents. Several children below the age of 18 years who were brought for allegedly engaging them as labourers in Tiruchi and other neighbouring districts were also rescued by the RPF personnel.
Such rescued children allegedly brought to be engaged as labourers were found mostly hailing from the northern states and those from the eastern part of the country, says the officer. Such children from other States who were rescued had mostly arrived at Tiruchi Junction by the inter-state Howrah - Tiruchi bi-weekly express train. It was found that they were brought to Tiruchi for work in districts such as Namakkal and Tiruppur.
The revised standard operating procedures as laid down by the Ministry of Railway to ensure care and protection of children in contact with the railway was being scrupulously followed after rescue of minors, say RPF sources here.
The revised standard operating procedures, which were issued in December 2021, is a comprehensive one which clearly spells out among others the procedures for taking care of the child found on board train/railway premises; responsibilities of station masters, Inspectors of Government Railway Police / RPF; duties of train escort teams comprising Government Railway Police / RPF personnel, duties of Child Help Group and role of Travelling Ticket Examiners among others.
