ITANAGAR, 7 Jul: As part of the union women & child development (WCD) ministry’s initiative to provide child helpline services across the country, the Arunachal Pradesh WCD department launched the Child Helpline Number, 1098, here on Friday, in the presence of WCD Secretary Mimum Tayeng and WCD Director TP Loyi, besides “call takers of Child Helpline, WCD control room and the staff of the State Child Protection Society,” the department informed in a release.
Arunachal is one of the nine states selected for the first phase of implementation, along with Mizoram, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Ladakh, Goa, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, it said.
“The Child Helpline, under Mission Vatsalya, is a 24/7 service for children as defined under the JJ Act, 2015, which has been integrated with the emergency response support system 112 (ERSS-112) helpline of the APP under the MHA, with the help of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing,” the department said.
“It will function with state- and district-level functionaries deployed in the control room and the CHL (district child protection units or DCPU). In Arunachal, the WCD control room of Child Helpline 1098 has been established in the WCD directorate,” the release stated.
“All incoming calls to Childline 1098 will land at the WCD control room, to be routed thereon to the ERSS-112 or the CHL (DCPU), depending on the nature of help required. At the district level, the CHL at the DCPU will be available round the clock to provide outreach services for children in crisis, linking them to emergency services and long-term care and rehabilitation services,” the release stated.
“All the calls to 1098 are classified into three categories, namely, emergency, non- emergency and information calls. Emergency calls to 1098 will be forwarded to ERSS-112 or vice versa, depending on the nature of the call,” it added.
Earlier, the Childline India Foundation had been rendering similar services through its partner NGOs in Namsai, Lower Dibang Valley and Papum Pare districts, the release said.
In Lower Dibang Valley district, the helpline number was launched by ICDS Deputy Director GA Perying at the district child protection unit in headquarters Roing. (With DIPRO input)
