Howrah:  A religious group working for the welfare of street children marked 30th year of its activities in Kolkata, setting up a Childline Service at Howrah Railway Station, the largest and busiest in eastern India.

The Don Bosco Ashalyam group, which started its work in Howrah station in 1985, now has about 550 boys and girls in its 25 homes spread out in greater Kolkata.

For over ten years the Salesian initiative is managing Childline for the entire Howrah district from its center at Belillious Road in Howrah.

The newly inaugurated Railway Childline Service 1098 which runs under the aegis of Eastern Railway Authorities has 12 staff including a coordinator, trained child counselor, seven team members and volunteers who will manage the booth 24×7.

“The new Assistance Booth situated adjacent to the Railway Police Force Help Desk on Platform Number 9 will help find lost children, or children in difficult situations to be returned to their parents or find shelter and rehabilitation,” says new director of Ashalayam Salesian Fr Alfred Paul.

“Our staff, on an average day helps five to six children at Howrah station. The cases vary from lost and found, victims of trafficking, runaways, sick or abandoned,” says Fr Paul explaining the procedure of doing a General Police Diary on each child and presenting the case to Child Welfare Committee at Howrah Station which will decide what to do with the child.

Salesians of Don Bosco, Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians, Sisters of Providence, and Holy Family Sisters assist in managing the Ashalayam group of shelter, education and skilling homes for boy and girls.

Premiere long distance trains arrive and leave from Platforms 8 and 9 which has direct vehicular access to the trains.

The Divisional Railway Manager of Howrah Dr R. Badri Narayan opened the Childline booth, Wednesday in front of a group of girls from Mayer Asha, and boys of Don Bosco Ashalyam as well as several Salesians, Sisters, volunteers and staff.

The Senior Divisional Security Commissioner (RPF) Saurav Trivedi, present along with his men, promised the children round the clock assistance.

Salesian Vice Provincial Fr James Mathew, and Rector and Principal of Don Bosco School Park Circus Fr Jose Pathickal commended the effort taken in favor of the children in distress.

The city program coordinator of Childline Leena Dasgupta thanked the railway authorities, well wishers and children who turned up for the function.

Childline Project across India is supported by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS).

In 1996, Childline India Foundation (CIF) launched CHILDLINE 1098, the country’s first toll-free tele-helpline for street children in distress. As of March 2014, CHILDLINE service received total 31 million calls since inception. It operates in 291 cities/districts in 31 States and Union Territories through its network of over 540 partner organizations across India.

CHILDLINE in each city operates through a structured network of street and community youth, non-profit organizations, institutions, and concerned individuals.

Each call centre has a team of trained youth who attend the telephone lines 24 hours a day.

It is claimed that within 60 minutes (at most) of receiving a distress call the team rushes to the child and attends to the crisis at hand. END