Special |
Childline 1098 is the country’s only dedicated helpline number for children and the entire child rights sector relies on it to provide assistance to them, but today a cloud hangs over its future as the government plans to merge it with national emergency helpline 112.
Childline 1098 is a 24x7 emergency, free phone outreach for children in distress. It is one of the world’s biggest emergency helpline service dedicated for children, and is considered to be among the country’s largest emergency response systems with 50 lakh calls received annually. But civil society organisations are worried about its future after the government in its recent draft guidelines for Mission Vatsalya scheme for child protection services said the Childline will be “integrated” with the universal emergency helpline 112 of the Ministry of Home Affairs that also provides assistance with services related to police, health and women’s safety.
