The number of calls received by the Childline service for children in distress in Tamil Nadu has shown a sharp drop in 2018-19, data provided by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development recently reveal.
Against 3,73,883 calls reported in 2017-18, there have only been 1,07,017 calls in 2018-19. Though there are more than four months to go before the year ends, it is unlikely that the number of calls will touch the previous year’s level, activists say.
The Ministry furnished the data in response to various queries from Members of Parliament relating to measures that have been taken for the protection of women and children in the country.
This drastic fall in distress calls has set the alarm bells ringing among child rights activists.
Chezhian Ramu, founder, TDH Core, a collaborative partner of Childline in Tiruvannamalai district, alleged that since the Childline Contact Centre (CCC) was set up a year ago as a nodal agency to receive and forward distress calls to the districts concerned, several calls were being filtered and were not reaching the district intervention units.
‘Frustrating experience’
“Before the CCC was established, we used to receive at least 350 distress and enquiry calls from children, every month. Today we hardly get 70,” he said.
Mr. Chezhian also recalled the “frustrating experience” he had recently when he dialled 1098 to help rescue two young children from begging in a neighbouring district.
“They didn’t know where the place was and were bombarding me with questions. I was exhausted at the end. Imagine the plight of a child then. They simply seemed to have no idea how to deal with it,” he said.
Mr. Chezhian added that most of the calls they now received required serious interventions.
Zaheeruddin Mohamad, a member of the Kancheepuram Child Welfare Committee, echoed Mr. Chezhian’s views.
“This year alone, we have been getting way too many cases of child abuse, begging, child labour and others. Most [children] were rescued by Childline. How can they claim that the number has come down. They have under-reported facts,” he said. Other activists have also questioned the reliability of the reported numbers over the years.
They point out how the number of calls had plunged from 3,00,889 in 2015-16 to 1,33,999 in 2016-17 before rising again to 3,73,883 in 2017-18. “There’s a huge credibility issue with the reported numbers,” an activist said. Out of the 456 Childline helpline services available across the country 32 are in Tamil Nadu.
