As many as 247 missing and runaway children, and child beggars have so far been rescued from the railway stations and from running trains in the Vijayawada Division this year.
“The children have been rescued by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) of the South Central Railway (SCR), in association with the NGOs,” Divisional Railway Manager Narendra A. Patil has said.
“Teams led by Senior Divisional Security Commissioner Valleswar B. Thokala conducted raids and rescued the minors found moving on the railway premises,” Mr. Patil told The Hindu.
Mr. Patil said the Railways was taking all measures to check child begging in railway stations and trains. Instructions had been issued to the RPF staff to keep a vigil and rescue the children.
“A majority of the rescued children are from Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and other States,” Mr. Valleswar said on November 18.
“A majority of the children migrated to Andhra Pradesh in search of work from other States. We have rescued many child labourers too,” he said.
The RPF was also conducting awareness programmes for Guards, Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTEs), Ticket Collectors and other staff in this regard, he said.
“All the rescued children have been produced before the Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) concerned by following due procedure,” Mr. Valleswar said.
The DRM said that the RPF officials booked cases against seven minors for pelting stones on Vande Bharat Express trains in two cases at different stations in the division.
“Of the seven, three have been sent to the Observation Homes. The remaining have been handed over to their parents,” Mr. Patil said.
