ITANAGAR, 22 Feb: Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Thursday flagged off 26 ‘1098 child helpline (CHL) vehicles’, giving a fillip to child protection activities in the state, Women & Child Development (WCD) Director TP Loyi informed in a release.
“The state government had earlier taken the initiative to provide financial assistance for procurement of 25 vehicles for the district child protection units (DCPU) and one for Pasighat (E/Siang)-based Juvenile Observation Home,” Loyi said.
“The 1098-CHL is an initiative under the aegis of the union WCD ministry under its Mission Vatsalaya, which aims to support and sustain children in difficult circumstances, especially orphans, abandoned children, child labourers, trafficked or runaway children who are without family support and who are classified as children in need of care and protection (CNCP) and children in conflict with law (CCL),” he said.
Informing that Arunachal was the first among the seven Northeast states to “go live with 1098-CHL on 7 July, 2023,” Loyi said that “the 1098 CHL is a 24/7 toll-free number, which is integrated with other similar emergency response services, such as 181-WHL (women helpline) and 112-ERSS (emergency response support system) of the police, and 108-Ambulance.”
The objective is to speed up response time to emergency calls by either immediate call transfer or call sharing with the police and the medical departments, he said, adding that “till date, a total of 2,798 calls have been received, and rescued cases are 77 in number.”
“Backing up this system is a network of child protection units in every district, with a full complement of support staffs such as legal-cum-probation officers, protection officers, counsellors, and outreach workers under the district child probation officer,” the WCD director added.
