As per Mission Vatsalya Scheme, States and Districts are mandated to execute a 24x7 helpline service for children as defined under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015 (as amended in 2021). There is also a provision for integration of Child Helpline with the Emergency Response Support System-112 (ERSS-112) helpline of Ministry of Home Affairs. Transition of Child Helpline is done in phase manner. In the first phase, integration of child helpline with ERSS-112 has been completed in 9 States i.e. Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Ladakh, Puducherry and Mizoram.

State-wise number of calls received every year by Child helpline in the last five years is at Annexure-I.

As per report received from Ministry of Home Affairs, over 26.05 crore calls have been handled since operationalization of ERSS-112. However, State wise call details are not maintained centrally.

Childline Services is defined under section 2(25) in Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act, 2015 as a twenty-four hours emergency outreach service for children in crisis which links them to emergency or long-term care and rehabilitation service. ‘1098’ is a national toll free 24x7 helpline number dedicated for children in difficult situations. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 as amended in 2019 and Rules made thereunder also provide role of Childline Services for reporting of cases under the Act.

The primary aim of Child Helpline Service is to support and assist any child who has fallen out of the safety net to provide emergency and immediate response and connect the child to existing long term services. This can range from providing medical, shelter, legal aid, emotional support or guidance. Childline acts as a crucial link between children in distress conditions and services available for their rehabilitation, restoration or social reintegration. For children with different needs, who call in anytime, anywhere, and for anything, it acts as a one-point contact which facilitates instant access to support, advice and active intervention.

Standard Operating Procedure for Child Helpline has been issued to the States/UTs on 31.03.2023 for implementation of the services. Child Helpline under Mission Vatsalya scheme at State Level is under the overall supervision of the Additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary/Secretary of the Department of Women and Child Development/Social Justice & Empowerment of the State identified to implement the Mission Vatsalya scheme and District Magistrate at the district level. State Level Monitoring and Review Committee of Mission Vatsalya Scheme headed by Chief Secretary during their meetings to review the performance of Child Helpline at the State level and at district level, District Child Welfare and Protection Committee which is chaired by the District Magistrate to be responsible for periodic review of Child Helpline. The review of Child Helpline must inter-alia include key performance indicators for effectiveness, impact and response time of Child Helpline.

As per the Mission Vatsalya scheme guidelines, since Child Helpline to run in coordination with the State and District Administration, a 24x7 dedicated WCD Control Room (WCD-CR) is setup for Child Helpline in each State/UT and integrated with ERSS-112. The District Child Protection Unit working under the overall supervision of District Magistrate is the nodal agency for ensuring service delivery and care and protection of children in the district. The DCPU to implement all child protection legislations, schemes and work for achievement of child protection goals as laid out in the Mission Vatsalya scheme guidelines.

 

ANNEXURE-I

State-wise number of calls received every year by child helpline in the last five years

Sl. No.	State/UTs	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
1	Andaman & Nicobar	1335	416	419	515	237
2	Arunachal Pradesh	3790	2617	417	753	834
3	Assam	92588	131726	49613	110840	92068
4	Bihar	913629	723887	555700	505647	413652
5	Chhattisgarh	61000	47598	42678	36103	28701
6	Jharkhand	62768	50864	32073	33260	24781
7	Manipur	5308	8048	6165	7897	5081
8	Meghalaya	6835	9553	3128	4742	2424
9	Mizoram	3508	2574	1371	2179	1179
10	Nagaland	3523	7536	5788	13694	14435
11	Odisha	127703	120788	87257	112253	68983
12	Sikkim	1351	1653	889	864	560
13	Tripura	8480	15965	4354	13336	9512
14	West Bengal	719356	581092	470662	579335	489620
15	Chandigarh	7710	5662	4213	5035	4584
16	Delhi	373086	249076	145440	164116	125416
17	Haryana	158522	143590	106077	97952	103448
18	Himachal Pradesh	102088	68691	44607	36214	40171
19	Jammu & Kashmir	38755	66538	57634	55593	51492
20	Punjab	171731	208670	175495	182499	168231
21	Rajasthan	332342	428564	350994	435690	545907
22	Uttarakhand	44699	32521	19259	20584	19554
23	Uttar Pradesh	1868010	1149584	828308	839364	890684
24	Andhra Pradesh	513684	380634	177599	220119	204859
25	Karnataka	690888	627660	382718	376223	376775
26	Kerala	161944	195930	130464	158194	114894
27	Lakshadweep	448	338	152	197	80
28	Pondicherry	3635	6068	1893	2776	1626
29	Tamil Nadu	466802	534122	326346	410801	405880
30	Telangana	26001	50423	29861	45942	41099
31	Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu	793	1415	1455	1042	909
32	Goa	5492	3135	3161	2163	1744
33	Gujarat	235717	162525	75032	91270	91926
34	Madhya Pradesh	677121	527250	423914	416713	305726
35	Maharashtra	1044877	747975	463164	500298	422054
36	Mobile calls	76843	0	0	0	0
	Total	9012362	7294688	5008300	5484203	5069126

 

This information was given by the Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

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