Moves to protect minors from trafficking on track
When we talk about railways, we discuss several issues from passenger safety to management challenges to how the trains are the country’s economic lifeline. Yet, if there is one that has been consistently ignored, it is the issue of children who are not just literally but also metaphorically lost in the vast and chaotic railway network which criss-crosses through the length and breadth of the country. Every year, an estimated 70,000 to 1,20,000 children are either lost or abandoned at the country’s railway stations and on trains. They immediately become vulnerable to abuse and trafficking. While on the one hand, this is a general law and order problem, it is also, on the other, a specific railways issue. Child-trafficking rackets depend heavily on the rail network to pick up new victims as well as move them from one place to the other. If the authorities and the general public are alert, they can help contain the damage to a large extent. However, until recently, there was no comprehensive effort in this direction. For the most part, rail authorities had refused to acknowledge that they had a problem on their hands; and even when they did, they didn’t think that the missing children were their responsibility. However, that has now changed. Earlier this year, the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Women and Child Development joined hands to fight the menace. The initiative is already in force at 20 major stations across the country and is constantly being expanded and upgraded. Most recently, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu and Maneka Gandhi, heading Railways and WCD respectively, inaugurated a poster campaign and a childline kiosk with the helpline number 1098 at New Delhi Railway Station on Thursday.
The crux of this initiative is the comprehensive standard operating procedure that has been rolled out to increase vigilance and awareness. It calls upon the Government Railway Police and the Railway Protection Force, that are deployed at stations and on trains respectively, to keep an eye on high-risk children, such as those who may have missed a train or arrived alone or are part of a large group. The SOP also calls for special attention to groups of five or more children, accompanied by just one adult — as there’s a high possibility that such minors are being trafficked. The new rules also require that every station set up a child protection committee, comprising the station manager and representatives of the GRP and the RPF, as well as a dormitory-like child assistance centre where rescued minors can be temporarily taken care of. If their parents or guardians cannot be traced right away, the children have to be handed over to the Government’s child welfare committee, which in turn will decide whether to send the minors to a welfare home. These measures are in keeping with the suggestions made by the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, and which were also pushed by the Railway Board. Though the programme has only been in force for a short period of time, the results are already showing: Since May, more than 3,300 children have been provided railway assistance. However, this is still a mammoth task, given that Indian Railways moves 23 million people every day and there are more than 8,000 stations in the country.