Navi Mumbai now has its first-ever ‘Childline — 1098 helpline’ centre at Kharghar, which will act on distress calls from children in the city. The centre was inaugurated on Saturday by Thane District Women and Child Development Officer Mahendra Gaikwad of the YUVA Centre, Kharghar.
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One stretch of Navi Mumbai was thus far handled by the Thane centre while the other half was attended to by the Raigad centre. The stretch from Digha to Vashi to Belapur will now be handled by the Navi Mumbai centre. “Earlier, local non-governmental organisations or the Railway Police Force would attend to cases in the area. In case of emergency, someone from the Thane or Raigad centre would investigate. On an average, at least 10 calls per month are from Navi Mumbai,” said Vijay Kharate, centre coordinator for Childline, YUVA Centre, said.
“Children’s problems are complex. The most common cases we have dealt with are of child beggars, labourers, sexual and physical abuse, cases related to schoolchildren, neglected children, those living on the street and those who go missing. The Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Central government has selected the YUVA organisation to run the Childline — 1098 helpline in Navi Mumbai as we were already running one centre in Mumbai city and at Dadar railway station,” Mr. Kharat said.
Mr. Gaikwad said, during the helpline inauguration, that the Childline Helpline was needed in Navi Mumbai, a rapidly developing node, with an increase in crimes against children. He also said efforts are on to set up child protection committees in urban areas. The ones in rural areas, under the district child protection cell, are now dealing with an increasing number of child protection cases.
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The Navi Mumbai centre will conduct seminars for underprivileged children and those on the streets to inform them about their rights and crimes against children in general. “Right now, we have a shelter home only at Ulhasnagar. We are looking to collaborate with other trusts who have shelter homes in Navi Mumbai,” Mr. Kharat said. The centre has nine staffers, with two people in each of three shifts attending to calls as well as conducting field visits. The remaining are volunteers, coordinators and technical support staff.
The centre will be of help to the police, who “often have difficulties in handling these cases due to the lack of training in child rights and laws regarding them,” said senior police inspector Arjun Garad of the Anti Human Trafficking Unit, Navi Mumbai.