The Ministry of Railways, in coordination with Ministry of Women and Child Development and National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, have issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which includes a protocol for rescue of young children found abandoned on railway stations or trafficked through trains. The SOP has been implemented on 20 railway stations and it is been decided to implement it on additional 15 railway stations.
Accordingly, Ministry of Women and Child Development in coordination with Ministry of Railways, have set up Child Help Desks/Kiosks at 20 nominated Railway Stations which are manned by representatives of the organization nominated by Ministry of Women and Child Development. The runaway/missing/abandoned children are rescued from stations by Child Help Group comprising of Station Superintendent/Station Master, Station House Officer (SHO)/ Government Railway Police (GRP), Inspector/Railway Protection Force (RPF), Sr. Section Engineer (Works), and in trains by GRP, RPF, Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) & Ticket Collector (TC). The children so rescued are handed over to these Child Help Desks/Kiosks and in turn to Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in coordination with GRP. In addition, RPF supplements the efforts of GRP of the State concerned in rescuing the children from trafficking and to ensure safety & security of children at stations. During the year 2015 and 2016 (Upto October), 7575 and 9722 children including runaway children rescued at Railway Stations and on trains and handed over to their parents/GRP/NGOs/CWCs. In addition, Security Helpline No.182 is also operational over Indian Railways for the security related assistance to the passengers in distress.
This Press Release is based on the information given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Rajen Gohain in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on 23.11.2016 (Wednesday).
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