PROJECT ISR

Name: Rizwan Ansari

Admission Number: HPGD/JL14/0644

Social cause: Every child has a right to protection and it is the collective responsibility of civil
society to provide the child with an enabling environment A child is not an object of pity.
Services provided for children are his/her right and not an act of charity. Ensuring that every
child in India has access to emergency assistance by setting up the CHILDLINE service in
different parts of the country.

Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research.

November 2015
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CHILDLINE India Foundation

Vision
A child-friendly nation that guarantees the rights and protection
of all children.
Mission
CHILDLINE will reach out to every child in need and ensure
their rights and protection through the Four Cs.
CONNECT through technology to reach the 'last mile'.
CATALYSE systems through active advocacy.
COLLABORATE through integrated efforts between children, the state, civil society,
corporates and community to build a child friendly social order.
COMMUNICATE to make child protection everybody's priority.

CHILDLINE India Foundation (CIF) is the nodal agency of the Union Ministry of Women and
Child Development acting as the parent organisation for setting up, managing and monitoring the
CHILDLINE 1098 service all over the country. CIF is the sole agency/body responsible for
establishing the CHILDLINE service in the cities/districts of the country, monitoring of service
delivery and finance, training, research and documentation, creating awareness, advocacy as well
as resource generation for the service.
CHILDLINE 1098 service is a 24 hour free emergency phone outreach service for children in
need of care and protection. CIF undertakes replication of CHILDLINE, networking and
facilitation, training, research and documentation, and Communications and Strategic Initiatives
both at the national and international level.
This is a project supported by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development and linking
state Governments, NGOs, bilateral /multilateral agencies and corporate sector . CIF is
responsible for the establishment of CHILDLINE centres across the country. CIF also functions
as a national centre for awareness, advocacy and training on issues related to child protection.

Child Protection Issues:

Abuse & Violence
Trafficking
Child Labour
Conflict with Law
Child Marriage
Child Sexual Abuse
Without Parental Care
Street Children
Birth Registration
Armed Conflicts
Disability
Drug Abuse
Girl Child
HIV - AIDS
Missing Children

CHILDLINE India Foundation The Governing Board

CHILDLINE India Foundation is governed by Governing Board made up of Chairperson and
Members. The board consists of distinguished group of civic, business, legal leaders from across
the country.
The Governing Board comprises the following members:
Chairperson
Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India
Board Members
Joint Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government
of India*
Joint Secretary (ICPS), Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India*
Principal Secretary, Women and Child Development Department, Government of Maharashtra*
Director, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai *
Mr. VinayakLohani, Founder, Parivaar from Kolkata, West Bengal
Ms. Vidya Reddy, Tulir Centre for Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse, Chennai
Mr. S. Ramadorai, Vice Chairman, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd
Mr. Rajat Gupta, Global Director at Mckinsey India, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Ms. Rita Panicker, Butterflies, CHILDLINE (Collab), Delhi
Professor JoydebMazumdar, Vidyasagar School of Social Work, CHILDLINE (Nodal) and (Sub
Centre) East Medinipur, West Bengal
Mr. Vasudeva Sharma, Child Rights Trust, CHILDLINE (Nodal) Bangalore, Karnataka
Mr, John Menachery, MatruSewaSangh Institute of Social Work, CHILDLINE (Nodal) Nagpur
Executive Director , CHILDLINE India Foundation, Mumbai, Maharashtra**(ex officio
positions)

CHILDLINE India Foundation Management

Dr. AnjaiahPandiri - Executive Director
HarleenWalia - Deputy Director
The teams of the various departments are lead by:
Chitrakala Acharya - Services
Nishit Kumar - Communication & Strategic Initiatives
AspiMedhora - Finance & Administration
Varghese P. J. - Resource Mobilization
The four Regional Resource Centers are lead by:
Heenu Singh- Delhi (North RRC)
AnuradhaVidyasankar - Chennai (South RRC)
Sandeep Mitra - Kolkata (East RRC)
- Mumbai (West RRC)

CHILDLINE India Foundation Who We Are CHILDLINE India Foundation Goals

CHILDLINE India Foundation Goals
CHILDLINE India Foundation is the central agency responsible for initiating, implementing and
monitoring the CHILDLINE service and undertaking research, documentation, awareness, and
advocacy in the area of child protection. Extending the network based on the unique partnership
'model' and initiation of specialized, innovative need based services, based on trends emerging
from analysis of calls is a part of the CHILDLINE India Foundation mandate.
The Goals for CIF are:
To establish one common brand for CHILDLINE, making it the most recognized reference point
in the field of Child Rights.
To set up systems and processes for existing CHILDLINE city and district teams to:
Enhance service excellence
Move from being activity-oriented to goal-oriented
To launch the CL service to the most under-represented and under-reached geographical and
thematic child rights areas
To make National Initiative for Child Protection (NICP) the most comprehensive initiative in the
country for mainstreaming child protection.
To optimize new technologies for upscaling CHILDLINE, reducing the cost per call and making
operational systems more professional
To develop systems and processes to ensure performance excellence in CIF
To develop new roles and cross-functional leadership positions to facilitate CIF's journey to the
next phase of its growth.
To integrate child participation within CIF governance through a children's advisory council
To raise local resources to deepen individual commitment and stake in CHILDLINE.
To develop an innovations funds/fellowship to spur new ideas in the sector.

CHILDLINE 1098 SERVICE

The calls would come late in the night.

"Didi, can you come? There's been a fight at the station."

"Didi, can you help? The police have battered Raju."
And a CHILDLINE volunteer would get up and rush out to where a street child was waiting. On
one of those dashes across the sleeping city of Mumbai , an idea was born.
What street children in Mumbai needed was a helpline, their own helpline.
In 1996, CHILDLINE India Foundation (CIF) launched CHILDLINE, the country's first toll-free
tele-helpline for street children in distress. As of March 2014, total of 31 Million calls since
inception have been serviced by CHILDLINE service and operates in 291cities/districts
in 31 States and UTs through its network of over 540 partner organisations across India.

CHILDLINE 1098 SERVICE 1098 Tele Helpline Model

CHILDLINE stands for a friendly 'didi' or a sympathetic 'bhaiya' who is always there for
vulnerable children 24 hours of the day, 365 days of the year.
31 million calls as of March 2014, 4 million children, 291
cities, 18 years.
A phone number that spells hope for millions of children
across India, CHILDLINE is India's first 24-hour, free,
emergency phone service for children in need of aid and
assistance. Whether you are a concerned adult or a child, you
can dial 1098, the toll free number to access our services. We
not only respond to the emergency needs of children but also
link them to services for their long-term care and rehabilitation. We have, till date, reached out to
over three million children across the nation through such calls.
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CHILDLINE is a platform bringing together the Ministry of Women & Child Development,
Government of India, Department of Telecommunications, street and community youth, nonprofit organisations, academic institutions, the corporate sector and concerned individuals.
We work for the protection of the rights of all children in general. But our special focus is on all
children in need of care and protection, especially the more vulnerable sections, which include:
Street children and youth living alone on the streets.
Child labourers working in the unorganised and organized sectors.
Domestic help, especially girl domestics.
Children affected by physical / sexual / emotional abuse in family, schools or institutions.
Children who need emotional support and guidance.
Children of commercial sex workers
Child victims of the flesh trade
Victims of child trafficking
Children abandoned by parents or guardians
Missing children.
Run away children.
Children who are victims of substance abuse
Differently-abled children
Children in conflict with the law
Children in institutions
Mentally challenged children
HIV/ AIDS infected children
Children affected by conflict and disaster
Child political refugees
Children whose families are in crises

Vision
A child - friendly nation that guarantees the rights and protection of all children.

Objectives
To reach out to every child in need of care and protection by responding to emergencies on 1098.
Awareness about CHILDLINE 1098 amongst every Indian child.
To provide a platform of networking amongst organisations and to provide linkages to support
systems that facilitate the rehabilitation of children in need of care and protection.
To work together with the Allied Systems (Police, Health Care, Juvenile Justice, Transport,
Legal, Education, Communication, Media, Political and the Community) to create child friendly
systems.
To advocate services for children that are inaccessible or non existent.
To create a body of NGOs and Government organisations working within the national framework
and policy for children.
To be a nodal child protection agency in the country, providing child protection services to
children in need of care and protection.
To contribute and work towards strengthening and participating in a global movement that
addresses issues related to child protection and ensures that children's voices are heard.

CHILDLINE 1098 Service 1098 Tele Helpline Model CHILDLINE in Action

As a phone number that spells hope for millions of children across India, any call coming into a
CHILDLINE centre is attended to by the CHILDLINE teams. This ensures that the calls coming
in are attended to, all 24 hours at the phone-receiving centre. Depending on the nature of the call,
be it by a child or an adult, the team member responds to it effectively and it could be by going
to meet with the child first and then linking him or her to medical help, shelter, repatriation,
rescue from abuse or even intensive counselling.

At CHILDLINE we believe that every call is important:

Not every call at CHILDLINE is an emergency. Street children, especially cynical about helpline
services may just call us as a prank, may even get abusive. But it is equally likely that the child
might be testing us to see if the call is taken seriously and if our services are for real. We take
even these calls as an opportunity for converting the childs faith in us. Treating blank calls
seriously can turn the child into a potential caller in times of crisis. Sometimes adults also call us
for information. Child or adult, each call at 1098 is important and taken seriously.
We Respond Children are especially vulnerable to crisis situations where they are trapped with
no one to respond to their pleas for help. Our primary function is to respond to the needs to such
children, more so in emergencies. We define emergency as a crisis period in the child's life,
wherein if the child does not get timely and sustained intervention, it could lead to the relapse of
child into the crisis situation. After the emergency is taken care of, we also help the child with
rehabilitation
We Provide Although several services existed throughout the country for protection of child
rights and needs, the efforts were disjointed as these services worked solo, thus lacking a
cohesive, effective mode of function. We provide that much required platform for networking
amongst these and various other organisations through the country, thus forming an effective web
of relationships for rehabilitation of children.
We Sensitize An important function of CHILDLINE is to sensitise, train and collaborate with
allied systems, such as the Police, Hospital, Railway, Municipal Corporations, Government,
Educational Institutions and Social Welfare Organisations to work towards ensuring the rights of
children in need of special care and protection.
We Document In order to increase transparency and accountability, we always document the
process of CHILDLINE. We also conduct research on relevant issues to bring them to fore and
help make this a child friendly world.
We Build It is important to create a turnkey network of various sections that can be
instrumental in working towards bringing children's rights issues to force. We are dedicated to
working towards building a referral network of legal, medical, economic and media professionals
to advocate for child related issues.

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We Network It is important to bring every child into the fold of child protection organizations.
To increase our outreach, we work to establish CHILDLINE networks in the Asia Pacific region.
We also network internationally to evolve a comprehensive child protection strategy.
We Involve Following our credo that we cannot work alone, we involve the government, the
public, the media and the corporate sector in our efforts to respond to children's needs. Through
this involvement, we are able to strengthen our base and come closer to achieving our objective
of getting everyone to work for children in need.
We Advocate Since it is important to create a legal framework to support any issue, we
advocate for changes in laws and policies relating to children's issues.
We Explore We believe that integrated, synergised efforts can go a long way in enabling us to
create a widespread network of outreach for children. We work towards this by exploring
possibilities of merging and integrating with government aided programmes.
We Train A well-trained staff which understands the processes and philosophy of
CHILDLINE is crucial to our efforts. Management of the organisation at city and national level
is facilitated by establishing a training and documentation centre.
We Manage We use our systems, expertise and experience to develop ManagementInformation Systems to assist organisations to provide quality service to the child.
We Contribute With a vast backup of documents, research and reports on children related
issues, we also contribute towards theory building.

What happens when you call 1098?

Dialing 1-0-9-8 (Ten- Nine-Eight)
Child or concerned Adult calls 1098
Hello CHILDLINE
Gets Connected to the CHILDLINE Contact Centre (CCC) and team responds to the calls
Crisis Intervention
Direct assistance: CHILDLINE Rushes to Aid the Child- Medical, Shelter, protection from
abuse, repatriation, death, missing children, intensive counseling
On phone: Emotional support and guidance, information and referral to services for the caller,
information about CHILDLINE, silent calls
Long-term Rehabilitation
After the emergency needs of the child have been addressed, child is provided Rehabilitation and
Constant follow up.
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CHILDLINE explores options with the child to study, learn a trade, go back home etc. Based on
the decision of the child, CHILDLINE links the child to an appropriate organisation in the city.
If the team member feels that some time will be involved in reaching out to the child in terms of
physical distance, then assistance from a support organisation that is located in the vicinity of the
caller, is sought. After the emergency intervention measures are taken by the CHILDLINE the
next step is to link the child with long-term rehabilitation. This involves referral and networking
with other organisations providing specialised services.
In this process from Response to Rehabilitation, the children's participation is an integral
component.

CHILDLINE 1098 Service 1098 Tele Helpline Model CHILDLINE Today

The Government of India has presented CHILDLINE as its response to the Child Rights
Convention . We pride ourselves at being a one point window, connecting children in need to
various NGO's working for child related issues. CHILDLINE works towards ensuring that all
children in need of care and protection are aware of and have access to services, that are child
friendly, available when they want it and encourage them to participate in decisions that affect
them.
The country's first toll-free tele-helpline for street children has grown into a national child
protection service that operates in over 291 cities and towns in India. In 18 years, CHILDLINE
has received 31 million calls as of March 2014 from children in need of care and protection
from across the country

CHILDLINE India Foundation Department Communications and Strategic Initiatives

Mandate:
Cause Equity: creating awareness of 'Child Protection' as well as of the tele-helpline 1098
amongst various segments including general public, media, corporate organizations, grants/
funding agencies & trusts.
Communication management covering Advertising & Public Relations.
Telecom Advocacy for connectivity related issues (for the CHILDLINE 1098 service).

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CHILDLINE Contact Centre (CCC)

Strategic initiatives, projects development and management.
Organizational Strategy.
Management of Website.
Advocacy with MWCD and other ministries.
Media Relationships.
Publishing - including Annual report.
Donor Relationship management
Institutional fund raising.
Monitoring & Evaluation, Reporting of donor-aided projects.
Publishing of bimonthly newsletters.
Goals cover:
Regular media interaction
Building a uniform brand identity for the CHILDLINE network through awareness and brand
equity campaigns using various media channels.
Revamp & upgrade of CHILDLINE web site.
Connectivity from Mobile networks in majority of CHILDLINE cities.
Volunteer Management System: Launch and manage Volunteer program.
Develop and implement a number of events targeting street children and school children aimed at
identifying talent, spreading awareness, generating interest amongst general public.
Organization-wide resource for support in structuring projects and developing management
matrices for control.

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CHILDLINE India Foundation CHILDLINE Contact Centre (CCC)

DausNauAath.! CHILDLINE 1098 service is a 24 hour free emergency phone outreach service
for children in need of care and protection and the voice of every distressed child reaches us
through the CHILDLINE Contact Centre (CCC). This is the central facility to which all 1098
calls are directed. The modern- day technology of a Call Centre was adopted by CHILDLINE in
2008 to provide a more systematic approach to Call Management and documenting.

The CHILDLINE Contact Centre (CCC) is a 24 hour voice response facility of CHILDLINE run
out of a modern Business Processes Outsourcing facility. CCC answers calls 24X7 from children
at national level in need assistance and ensures children are provided help through partners at the
local level. It uses the contemporary technology of a Call Centre. The Telecom & IT technologies
are integrated to provide script based voice response to calls on 1098, connect to CHILDLINE
Partners to facilitate interventions, record calls, generate database.
Once a call is received at CCC, it is answered by trained CHILDLINE Contact Officer (CCO). If
the call resolution can be completed on the phone it becomes a CCC operation. However in calls
requiring Direct Intervention, the CCO will capture details and make an outbound call to the
Collab Partner (the CHILDLINE Interventions unit) in the city where the call has come from.
Then the Collab partner takes over, indicates to the CCC an Estimated Time of Intervention and
post intervention reports the complete case details to CCC - this enables the CCC to complete the
case documentation. Sometimes the caller speaks in a local dialect. In such cases CCC facilitates
and immediate conference call with the local Collab partner.

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Since direct interventions calls are under 20% of all CHILDLINE Calls, the CCC frees up the
time of CHILDLINE Collab Partner teams for a variety of field work including outreach
programmes, networking with resource organisations, sensitization of Allied systems
organizations, issue based intervention initiatives, etc.
As part of a modern Call Centre, several operational facilities are available to us. These include:
recording of all inbound and outbound calls, enforcing quality standards on call response,
barging into live calls by Supervisor, tracking of speed of call response for every CHILDLINE
Contact Officer (CCO), tracking the time of day and day of week for all calls to trace busy time
zones and busy days for calls, tracking of calls abandoned (abandoned calls are those that fail to
reach a CCO and are terminated- either because the line drops or because of other telecom
related issues). For cities connected to CCC, the case documentation and call stats reporting is
done by CCC. CCC processes include:
A comprehensive Call Management system using CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
software, with formats for recording details/requirements of callers, with prompting scripts for
responding to calls, built in Resource directories for each city.
Process to manage interaction with our Intervention Partners.
Case documentation process.
A floor management process that ensures each language group is present 24 hrs on the floor.
A Quality Assurance process that rates the performance of all CHILDLINE Contact Officers
(CCOs) on a defined set of parameters and ranks CCOs for performance.
Regular training processes covering training on facility, software, voice modulation, Child
Rights/Child Protection issues, interaction with Intervention units.
CCC team includes Location Manager, Supervisors, QA Coordinators, Floor Coordinators,
CCOs and admin incharges. The team profile is graduates and above mostly MSW or MA with
psychology.

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CCC team in traditional attire during the Diwali celebrations 2013

Current Status:
As of March 2015, CCC units serviced over 4 million calls ( 2014-15). CCC at Goregaon
(Mumbai), New Town, Rajarhat (Kolkata), Thoraipakkam (Chennai) Kolkata (New Town,
Rajarhat), Chennai (Thoraipakkam) have been launched since Oct 2014.
During this period, CCC migrated to a newer and sophisticated technology that enabled us to set
up multi- located CCC covering the entire country; a remote located Primary data centre
connected via MPLe located at (Vikhroli) Mumbai,(Vikhroli) Mumbai, (Goregaon) Mumbai,
(Thoraipakkam) Chennai and (Rajarhat) Kolkata and serviced 317 cities/districts across India
and serviS Cloud Connectivity to each location. A secondary data centre with complete
duplication of servers is located at a separate city and is also connected to all locations. CCC
uses a customized CRM software, call recording and QA process. The CCC infrastructure has
been devised to handle 15 million calls/yr.
CCC operations use multiple PRI each PRI is 30 telecom lines. Facilities like IVR (Integrated
Voice Recording) are available to route calls to agents with specific language/skill set. All
locations access recorded calls of each agent for post-call Quality Assurance ranking. The CRM
software carries built in scripts in multiple languages and has Resource Directories for each
serviced city. The technology allows us to setup call centre facilities at multiple locations, based
on call volume growth.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Asias largest and the worlds 5th largest IT firm, is the
technology partner for CCC. The infrastructure is outsourced to TCS and the process is directly
managed by CIF with our own staff.
CCC is a part of the Communications and Strategic Initiatives department of CIF.
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CHILDLINE India Foundation Department POLICY, RESEARCH AND

DOCUMENTATION (PRAD)
POLICY, RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION (PRAD)
The PRAD Unit is the resource centre of CHILDLINE India Foundation, responsible for
documenting children's voices and concerns, conduct research, prepare policy guidelines and
disseminate issues related to child protection. Networking and issue-based advocacy for positive
change are the major mandates of PRAD. It augments the scope of existing research, training and
advocacy initiatives within the CHILDLINE network. PRAD is also responsible for forging
strategic alliances with organisations, which can strengthen CHILDLINE India Foundation's
ability to build capacity among our partner organisations.
The work broadly includes:
Research and Documentation
Publishing of manuals
Database update
Establishment of the ChildNET
Capacity Building
Issue-based Campaign
Issue-based Networking with national international stakeholders

PRAD-Departmental Goals cover

Service Excellence:
To set operational systems and policy papers based on MDG framework and PSP Standards
Measures:
White Papers are developed on following themes:
Child Protection Policy
Child Participation in Childline
Coverage policy
Guidelines on documentation and advocacy initiatives
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Conceptualisation of CR Framework for CHILDLINE based on MDG and reflected in training

Modules and conceptPaper

IncreasingRecall
To ensure CIF representation in Key National networks/ initiatives in the area of Child rights.
StrengthenNICP
Develop CIF capabilities to enhance NGO partner capacities in the area of Child Rights.
Innovation
Toconceptualise innovative CR based assessment methods like CR Audit Measures.

CHILDLINE India Foundation Department Services

The Services Department performs the function most integral to the existence of CIF. The
Services Department oversees the implementation of CHILDLINE service across the country
and provides vital support to CHILDLINE partner organisations to ensure quality standards of
the CHILDLINE services delivery, from intervention in cases received by CHILDLINE, creating
awareness about the service, networking and advocacy at city level, through networking and
facilitation visits to the CHILDLINE cities.
The Grants-in-aid to the CHILDLINE partners are recommended every year, based on the
assessment of performance done by the Services team. The Services department of CIF operates
in a decentralized manner and service team is supported by the Regional Resource Centre in each
region of the country namely West Regional Resource Centre (WRRC), East Regional Resource
Centre (ERRC), North Regional Resource Centre (NRRC), South Regional Resource Centre
(SRRC).
The Goals of the Department covers:
To develop standardized systems to enable partners to:
Make effective interventions, generate quality data, utilise data to increase intervention calls, to
increase and enhance child participation in intervention process, Influence network and media.
To enable partners to conduct enhanced and effective outreach programme in order to increase
involvement of civil society organisation and media.
To undertake review as a step towards reimagining NICP
To enable other department of CIF by providing relevant information to optimise use of
technology for service excellence
To generate joint venture with partners to new service delivery mechanisms.

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CHILDLINE India Foundation Department Financial-Goals

Financial-Goals
Finance & Administration
The F&A department performs the functions of financial management and control and
compliance of legal and statutory requirements.
The activities of this department broadly include :
Compliance with the Bombay Public Trust Act, Societies Registration Act,
Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) and Income Tax Act.
Application for funding to GOI.
Training (Training to services team members to understand the accounts at city level while
monitoring/recommending the grant in aid applications)
Miscellaneous
Preparing circulars to finance committee for their approval on matters of policy
Investments of funds
Internal audit at city level when required
The goals set for the Finance & Administration department cover:
Smooth Flow of Computerization of accounting system.
We intend to complete the implementation of the Process Manual this financial year to ensure
improved systems all across the organization.
Finalization of Books of accounts, audit and tax compliances, reports to Charity Commissioner,
Budgets etc within the stipulated time.
The operational aspects of the CHILDLINE Organizations at various cities that can be taken up
by this department is
To ensure that all the accounts are submitted within one month of the activity.
To ensure that all the bills and vouchers are as per the norms required by us.
To ensure that the spending is as per the budget.
To ensure all queries are attended to, within 2 weeks from generating them.
Disbursement of all funds received from grants &trusts :
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Finalize the MIS and send it to donor organisations by the first quarter. (Entire year's activities
broken up quarterly)
To ensure that the monthly Cash flow reach them every month.
To ensure all the expenses are booked under the correct expenses head by checking all the
vouchers on a monthly basis.
Streamlining Regional Resource Center operations :
Management/Process Audit

CHILDLINE India Foundation > RESOURCE MOBILISATION

The Resource Mobilization Department has been set up to provide a sustainable retail fund
raising for CIF's growing needs. Retail funds cover donations from individuals and use a variety
of initiatives to reach donors. Currently the team is working on innovative programs in schools,
events like Mumbai and Delhi Maratthons, Cause tie ups with financial institutions, direct mail
programs and so on.

CHILDLINE India Foundation Regional Offices

The Regional Resource Centre of CIF in each region namely West Regional Resource Centre
(WRRC), East Regional Resource Centre (ERRC), North Regional Resource Centre (NRRC),
South Regional Resource Centre (SRRC) supports Services team of CIF. Each region is headed
by a RRC Head who overseas partnerships with local organisations, manage the service delivery
parameters for optimal efficiency and initiate and facilitate CHILDLINE services in new cities in
the respective region and staffed with Cityin-charges who are responsible for initiating,
implementing, strengthening and monitoring of CHILDLINE service in one or more cities. The
city-in-charge is responsible for coordinating the city operations and report to the regional heads
who in turn report to the Head, services.
The Regional Resource Centers of CIF are based in Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. These
four fully functional regional resource centers have succeeded in streamlining and facilitating the
CHILDLINE service delivery at the city level within the given regions. This has lent close
proximity of the Programs team of CHILDLINE India Foundation to the city CHILDLINE's and
maximized the scope of timely intervention in trouble shooting/ crisis resolution.
Broad Objectives of the Regional Resource Centers are as follows:
The RRC will work closely with the partner organisation and take quick and proactive
intervention as and when necessary.
The RRC will closely work with concerned state Government Departments and local
Government to ensure and promote child protection.
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The RRC will work to develop a productive network with the Allied systems.
The RRC will work in co-ordination with the different local and regional networks/ forums
towards impacting policy level changes with the administration at the local, state and regional
levels.
The North Regional Resource Centre (NRRC) has an additional distinct responsibility of liaising
with the ministry on grant-related matters, as well as networking and coordinating with the
central government to facilitate convergence between the different ministries.

Get In Touch
Regional Resource Centre - North

Regional Resource Centre - West

North Regional Resource Centre (NRRC)

SPWD Buildling, 5th Floor
14-A, Vishnu Digambar Marg, Rouse
Avenue
New Delhi - 110002
Ph: 011-2321 8807 / 2321 8948

West Regional Resource Centre (WRRC)

Unit No. 204/A, Second Floor,
Parvati Industrial Estate Premises,
New Sun Mill Compound, SenapatiBapat Marg
Lower Parel [W], Mumbai- 400013,
Maharashtra
Ph: 022-2498 9630

Regional Resource Centre - South

Regional Resource Centre - East

South Regional Resource Centre (SRRC)

Second Floor, No.2, Dr. Nair Road
T.Nagar, Chennai- 600 017, Tamil Nadu
Landmark: Near VaniMahal
Ph: 044-2815 6098, 044-28158098

East Regional Resource Centre (ERRC)

AB 15, Sector - 1,
Salt Lake, Near PNB,
Kolkata 64, West Bengal
Ph: 033-4065 6086

CHILD Protection & Child Rights

The Child Rights and Child Protection (CRCP) section is to provide a comprehensive base of
knowledge regarding CRCP in India, regionally and internationally. The section is for students,
scholars, field workers, CHILDLINE staff and partners, and people generally interested in
CRCP. The section discusses the various issues faced by children in the world and specifically in
India. It outlines the various policy, legislature, programmes and budgetary allocations for
children in India and connects these efforts to state, national, regional and international bodies
and commitments. The section also brings you an extensive library of downloadable files. The
purpose of this section is to locate crucial information about CRCP in one space so as to make
understanding and internalizing the concepts and commitments of this country and the world a
simple process that is available to all.
21

CHILD Protection & Child Rights I. Details

What are Child Rights?
A right is as an agreement or contract established between the
persons who hold a right (often referred to as the "rightsholders") and the persons or institutions which then have
obligations and responsibilities in relation to the realization of
that right (often referred to as the "duty-bearers".) Child rights
are specialized human rights that apply to all human beings
below the age of 18.
Universally child rights are defined by the United Nationsand United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). According to the UNCRC Child
Rights are minimum entitlements and freedoms that should be afforded to all
persons below the age of 18 regardless of race, colour, gender, language, religion,
opinions, origins, wealth, birth status or ability and therefore apply to all people
everywhere. The UN finds these rights interdependent and indivisible, meaning that
a right can not be fulfilled at the expense of another right.
The purpose of the UNCRC is to outline the basic human rights that should be afforded to
children. There are four broad classifications of these rights. These four categories cover all civil,
political, social, economic and cultural rights of every child.
Right to Survival: A child's right to survival begins before a child is born. According to
Government of India, a child life begins after twenty weeks of conception. Hence the right to
survival is inclusive of the child rights to be born, right to minimum standards of food, shelter
and clothing, and the right to live with dignity.
Right to Protection: A child has the right to be protected from neglect, exploitation and abuse at
home, and elsewhere.
Right to Participation: A child has a right to participate in any decision making that involves
him/her directly or indirectly. There are varying degrees of participation as per the age and
maturity of the child.
Right to Development: Children have the right to all forms of development: Emotional, Mental
and Physical. Emotional development is fulfilled by proper care and love of a support system,
mental development through education and learning and physical development through
recreation, play and nutrition.

What is Child Protection?

22

UNICEF considers child protection as the prevention of or responding to the incidence of abuse,
exploitation, violence and neglect of children. This includes commercial sexual exploitation,
trafficking, child labour and harmful traditional practices, such as female genital
mutilation/cutting and child marriage. Protection also allows children to have access to their
other rights of survival, development, growth and participation. UNICEF maintains that when
child protection fails or is absent children have a higher risk of death, poor physical and mental
health, HIV/AIDS infection, educational problems, displacement, homelessness, vagrancy and
poor parenting skills later in life.
According to the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) Child Protection is about keeping
children safe from a risk or perceived risk to their lives or childhood. It is about recognizing that
children are vulnerable and hence reducing their vulnerability by protecting them from harm and
harmful situations. Child protection is about ensuring that children have a security net to depend
on, and if they happen to fall through the holes in the system, the system has the responsibility to
provide the child with the necessary care and rehabilitation to bring them back into the safety
net.
CHILD PROTECTION
Prevention

Intervention

Rehabilitation

Law and Policies

Laws and Policies

Laws and Policies

Processes and Protocols

Access and Assistance

Long term care until age 18

Mechanisms and Systems

Immediate Relief (SOS

attention)

Skills and Training

Monitoring
Sensitization and Awareness
Building

Restoration of rights/Status Quo

Punish violators

Understanding the Difference

It is important to understand the difference between these two concepts. Child rights are a set of
principles or ideals. They are entitlements and some of them are justifiable in a court of law, but
they are not tangible. Protection is one of these rights. But Child Protection is more than a right.
It is a framework or system by which the rights of a child can come to be. The framework
consists of various duty bearers such as the departments of the government, police, school, civil
society, who all have roles to play to ensure that a child's rights are met, and in the case that a
child's rights are violated that the violator be brought to justice and care be provided to the child.
Child protection is not only treatment, but should also be preventive. Risk management needs to
take place to reduce the risk of violation of child rights in any given circumstance or space.
Child protection is hence the means through which all other rights of a child can be upheld. For
example a child has a right to live a normal childhood in a family environment. The child
23

protection framework need to first take steps to ensure families are able to survive by providing
them when health, education, and food for free or at minimal cost. The next step is to address the
needs of children who have fallen through the cracks such as destitute, abandoned, and orphan
children. The framework includes the mechanisms to relocate these children into caring families
either through adoption or foster care and provide these children with access to health and
education services. Hence the framework is not a single ministry or single government body it is
the interlinking functions of all ministries and sectors.

CHILD Protection & Child Rights II. Child In India

Who is a Child?
Defining what age a person is or ceases to be a child is a constant debate in the India.The Census
of India considers children to be any person below the age of 14, as do most government
programmes. Biologically childhood is the stage between infancy and adulthood. According to
the UNCRC 'a child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless, under the
law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier'. This definition of child allows for
individual countries to determine according to the own discretion the age limits of a child in their
own laws. But in India various laws related to children define
children in different age limits.
The Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860 finds that no child below the
age of seven may be held criminally responsible for an action
(Sec 82 IPC). In case of mental disability or inability to
understand the consequences of one's actions the criminal
responsibility age is raised to twelve years (Sec 83 IPC). A girl
must be of at least sixteen years in order to give sexual consent,
unless she is married, in which case the prescribed age is no less
that fifteen. With regard to protection against kidnapping,
abduction and related offenses the given age is sixteen for boys
and eighteen for girls.
According to Article 21 (a) of the Indian Constitution all children between the ages of six to
fourteen should be provided with free and compulsory education. Article 45 states that the state
should provide early childhood care and education to all children below the age of six. Lastly
Article 51(k) states the parents/guardians of the children between the ages of six and fourteen
should provide them with opportunities for education.
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 defines a child as a person who has not
completed fourteen years of age. The Factories Act, 1948 and Plantation Labour Act 1951 states
that a child is one that has not completed fifteen years of age and an adolescent is one who has
completed fifteen years of age but has not completed eighteen years of age. According to the
Factories Act adolescents are allowed to work in factories as long as they are deemed medically
fit but may not for more than four and half hours a day. The Motor Transport Workers Act 1961,
24

and The BeediAnd Cigar Workers (Conditions Of Employment) Act 1966, both define a child as
a person who has not completed fourteen years of age. The Merchant Shipping Act 1958 and
Apprentices Act 1961 don't define a child, but in provisions of the act state that a child below
fourteen is not permitted to work in occupations of the act. The Mines Act, 1952 is the only
labour related act that defines adult as person who has completed eighteen years of age (hence a
child is a person who has not completed eighteen years of age).
The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 states that a male has not reached majority until he
is twenty-one years of age and a female has not reached majority until she is eighteen years of
age. The Indian Majority Act, 1875 was enacted to create a blanket definition of a minor for such
acts as the Guardians and Wards Act of 1890. Under the Indian Majority Act, 1875 a person has
not attainted majority until he or she is of eighteen years of age. This definition of a minor also
stands for both the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 and the Hindu Adoption and
Maintenance Act, 1956. Muslim, Christian and Zoroastrian personal law also upholds eighteen as
the age of majority. The first Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 defined a boy child as below sixteen
years of age and a girl child as below eighteen years of age. The Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Act, 2000 has changed the definition of child to any person who has not
completed eighteen years of age.
Because of its umbrella clauses and because it is the latest law to be enacted regarding child
rights and protection, many are of the opinion that the definition of child found in the Juvenile
Justice Act, 2000 should be considered the legal definition for a child in all matters.
How many children are there in India?

India with 1.21 billion people constitutes as the second most populous country in the world,
while children represents 39% of total population of the country.
Age group of Indias Children *
25

The figures show that the larger number of about 29 percent constitutes Children in the age
between 0-5 years. The share of Children (0-6 years) in the total population has showed a decline
of 2.8 points in 2011, compared to Census 2001. The children's population (0-18) is 472 million.
Age group VS Gender of Indias Children *

While an absolute increase of 181 million in the countrys population has been recorded during
the decade 2001-2011, there is a reduction of 5.05 millions in the population of children aged 0-6
years during 2010-11. The decline in male children is 2.06 million and in female children is 2.99
millions. The share of Children (0-6 years) in the total population has showed a decline of 2.8

26

points in 2011, compared to Census 2001 and the decline was sharper for female children than
male children in the age group 0-6 years.
Gender of Indias Children *

The number of boys has dropped 2.42 per cent and that of girls 3.80 per cent. Population (0-6
years) 2001-2011 registered minus (-) 3.08 percent growth with minus (-)2.42 for males and
-3.80 for females. The proportion of Child Population in the age group of 0-6 years to total
population is 13.1 percent while the corresponding figure in 2001 was 15.9 percent. The decline
has been to the extent of 2.8 points.
Rural - Urban Distribution of Children Population *

27

State wise distribution of Childrens population *

Uttar Pradesh (19.27%) is the state with highest childrens population in the country followed by
Bihar (10.55 %), Maharashtra (8.15 %), West Bengal (6.81 %) and Madhya Pradesh (6.46%)
constitutes 52% of Childrens population in the country.

28

State wise and Gender wise distribution of Childrens population *

Male Female Childrens Ratio *

The Child gender Ratio in the country has declined.

29

Gender wise Adult V/S Children *

Gender wise distribution of Rural - Urban Children Population *

30

Age distribution of Rural & Urban population *

31

Comparison of Adult and Children population in Rural and Urban India *

CHILD Protection & Child Rights III. Vulnerable Children

Introduction
All children due to their age are considered to be at risk for exploitation, abuse, violence and
neglect. But vulnerability cannot be defined simply by age. Though age is one component,
Vulnerability is also measured by the child's capability for self-protection. The question that
arises is, are children capable of protecting themselves. Can children provide for their basic
needs, defend against a dangerous situation or even recognise a dangerous situation is
developing? These questions call for a redefinition of the concept of self-protection. A child's
vulnerability comes from various factors that hinder a child's ability to function and grow
normally. Hence self-protection is more about the ability of the child to lead a healthy life within
a child protection system; the ability to protect themselves or get help from people who can
provide protection. The term vulnerable children refer to an age group
that is considered at risk. But vulnerability of children is further
compounded by the following factors:
Age within age: Younger children, especially those below the age of six,
are much more dependent on the protection system.
Physical disabilities
Mental disabilities

32

Provocative behaviours: due to ignorance or misunderstanding of children's mental health or

behavioural problems, some people can become irritated or frustrated and hence lash out against
children or neglect them completely.
Powerlessness: comes of the situations and people that surround the children. If a child is given
the power by the state, family or community to participate and fulfil their own rights and
responsibilities they are less vulnerable.
Defencelessness: comes from the lack of protection provided by the state or parents or
community. If there is no child abuse law than how is a child suppose to defend himself/herself
against abuse.
Passivity: due to situation or treatment of the child. For example a child who is enslaved or
oppressed does not have the ability to seek help or protection.
Illness
Invisible: Children who the system doesn't even recognise are highly vulnerable.
The Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) like the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000defines
vulnerability in two categories: children in need of care and protection and children in conflict
with law.
Children in need of care and protection is defined as a child who :
Doesn't have a home or shelter and no means to obtain such an abode
Resides with a person(s) who has threatened to harm them and is likely to carry out that threat,
harmed other children and hence is likely to kill, abuse or neglect the child.
Is mentally or physically handicapped, or has an illness, terminal or incurable disease and has no
one to provide and care for him/her.
Has a parent or guardian deemed unfit or unable to take care of the child.
Is an orphan, has no family to take care of him/her, or is a runaway or missing child whose
parents cannot be located after a reasonable search period.
Is being or is likely to be sexual, mentally, emotionally or physically abused, tortured or
exploited.
Is being trafficked or abusing drug substances.
Is being abused for unthinkable gains or illegal activities.
Is a victim of arm conflict, civil unrest or a natural disaster
Children in conflict with law are juveniles who have allegedly committed a crime under
theIndian Penal Code. The ICPS also recognises a third category of children; Child in contact
with law. These children are victims of or witnesses to crimes. ICPS lastly outlines that
33

vulnerable children groups also include but are not limited to the following: "children of
potentially vulnerable families and families at risk, children of socially excluded groups like
migrant families, families living in extreme poverty, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other
backward classes, families subjected to or affected by discrimination, minorities, children
infected and/or affected by HIV/AIDS, orphans, child drug abusers, children of substance
abusers, child beggars, trafficked or sexually exploited children, children of prisoners, and street
and working children."
UNICEF views vulnerable children as those who are abused, exploited, and neglected. Child
protection is derived out of the duty to respond to the needs of vulnerable groups of
children. UNICEF outlines the following groups as vulnerable: Children subjected to violence,
Children in the midst of armed conflict, Children associated with armed groups, Children
affected by HIV/AIDS, Children without birth registration, Children engaged in labour, Child
engaged in marriage, Children in Conflict with the Law, Children without Parental Care,
Children used for commercial sexual exploitation, Female children subjected to genital
mutilation / cutting, and Trafficked children.
Each of these groups and other protection issues is discussed in the next section:Children's Issues

CHILD Protection & Child Rights IX. Acknowledgements

CIF acknowledges the extensive contribution of TrishlaJasani in the research and re-structuring
of the Child Protection and Child Rights section of this website
in 2010. Trishla has worked with CHILDLINE during 20072008 and for the re-structuring project in July-August 2010.
Trishla has completed her Masters of Arts in Social Work, from
the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai in May
2010. She specialised in Child and Youth Development as well
as Social Policy and Planning. Trishla is now going to be living
and working in London, England as a Social Worker in the
Child Welfare Services of Ealing Council. CIF also wishes to
thank the Sir Dorabji Tata Memorial Library at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Deonar,
Mumbai, for allowing the use of their facilities by Trishla for the researched content of this
website.
All text and data available in the 'Child Rights and Child Protection' section is valid as of 31st
August 2010. CIF acknowledges the contribution of the following organisations for inspiring the
data and text of this section.
ACTION for Child Protection; Arunachal Times; Asian Human Rights Commission; Association
of Southeast Asian Nations; Avert; BachpanBachaoAndolan; Breastfeeding Promotion Network
of India; Catalysts for Social Action; Central Social Welfare Board; Centre for Budget and
Governance Accountability; Census of India; Child Workers in Asia; Child Helpline
International; Citizen's Initiative for the Rights of Children under Six; Coalition to Stop the Use
34

of Child Soldiers; Community Development Foundation, Bangalore; Consortium for Street

Children; CRIN; District Information System for Education; Gendercide Watch; Global March
against Child Labour; HAQ: Centre for child rights; Human Rights Law Network; Human Rights
Watch; IndianChild.com; India Together; Indian Council of Child Welfare, Tamil Nadu;
International Juvenile Justice Observatory; International Humanist and Ethical Union;
Karmayog.org; MahilaBalKalyanEvmShikshaSamiti; National Family Health Survey; NACO;
National Human Rights Commission; National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights;
National Centre for Missing Children; National Institute of Educational Planning and
Administration; National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development; National
Council of Education Research and Training National Commission for Enterprises in the
Unorganized Sector; Nike Foundation; Planning Commission; Population First; Right to Food
Campaign, India; Save the Children; Times of India; Tehelka Magazine; Wada Na TodoAbhiyan;
World Bank; Government of India especially the Ministry of Women and Child Development,
Ministry of Labour and Employment, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of
Human Resource Development, and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; All State
Governments; United Nations and UN Agencies especially UNICEF and UNICEF India.

CHILD Protection & Child Rights X. Additional Resources

International Organisations:
Amnesty International is a worldwide movement that campaigns to promote all the human rights
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards.
Action Aid International is a world wide organization that works towards the elimination of
poverty.
BOES.ORG is an independent, non-profit organization that provides information on children's
rights (including the Convention on the Rights of the Child) in multiple languages.
Canadian Coalition for the Rights of the Child is a coalition of over 50 national and provincial
NGOs committed to promoting and protecting children's rights in Canada and abroad.
Children International's mission is to help children living in dire poverty in providing a variety of
programs and services to meet their basic needs and rights.
Children's Rights Alliance for England is an alliance of over 320 voluntary and statutory
organizations committed to children's human rights.
Child Rights Information and Documentation centre (CRIDOC) is a non-profit making research
and professional organization based in Malawi, primarily concerned with creating access to
information on child rights or related issues through Research, Documentation, ICT models,
education, advocacy, networking and any other means as may be deemed appropriate from time
to time.
Child Savings International works for the social and financial education of children.
35

Defence for Children International is a non-governmental organization set up to ensure ongoing,

practical, systematic and concerted international action, specifically directed towards promoting
and protecting the rights of the child.
ECPAT (acronym:' End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for
Sexual Purposes') is a network of organisations and individuals working together to eliminate the
commercial sexual exploitation of children.
Free the children is an influential international children's movement with young people all over
the world speaking out and taking action to improve the lives of children.
Global Action for children is an independent, collaborative campaign, launched in September
2003, of non-governmental and student organizations dedicated to supporting orphans and other
vulnerable children as well as the communities and families that care for them:
Human Rights Education Programme aims to contribute towards the development of a civil and
humane society by providing children and young people with a socially relevant and human
rights-sensitive education. http://www.cmphr.org/
The International Federation of Journalists website give information on children rights and on
their Campaign Against Sexual Exploitation of Children in Tourism, in conjunction with the
World Tourism Organisation.
International Save the Children Alliance's 26 member organizations support a wide variety of
programme activities in over 100 countries to build a world that respects and values each child.
More information possible on Save the Children India: www.savethechildrenindia.org, Save the
Children UK: www.savethechildren.org.uk/ or Save the Children
Sweden: http://www.rb.se/eng/AboutUs/.
International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect is a multidisciplinary
international organization, founded in 1977, that brings together a cross-section of professionals
to work towards the prevention and treatment of child abuse, neglect and exploitation.
PLAN International is a humanitarian child-centredorganisation working in 45 developing
countries, with families and their communities to help children realise their full potential in life.

Indian NGOs:
Butterflies is a registered voluntary organization working with street and working children in
Delhi since 1989:
36

Concern for working child is an Indian social organization working in partnership with all the
major actors to implement sustainable and appropriate solutions, so that children do not have to
work:
Children Rights and You (CRY) is an Indian non-profit organization, created in 1979, leading
work for child rights.
Rescue Foundation is a social organization based Mumbai, which has been working for the
Rescue, Rehabilitation, Reintegration and Empowerment of trafficked women and children.
Safer India is the site of an NGO started by MsKiranBedi. You can go to this site and log your
complaint regarding any crime, if the police at your place is not accepting your complaint. Then
this NGO will mail your complaint to the DGP of your area. You can also use this mail as the
legal document in case of filing a case in the court of law.
Shakti Vahini is a social organisation active among others in fields of Women and Child issues,
trafficking in Human Beings, Bonded labour, Health, Education, Legal Aid and training,
Community development, etc.
South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude (SACCS) is the first civil society initiative to fight
against child slavery and child labour since 1980 in India.
MelJol is an organization that works for financial education and social education of school going
children.
Asha for Education works for education of under-privileged sections of society.
CHILDLINE 1098 SERVICE FAQ's - 1098
What is CHILDLINE ?
How does CHILDLINE work ?
Where/ how did CHILDLINE start ?
Who owns 1098 ?
How is it different from any other helpline ?
Who does CHILDLINE reach out to ?
Who does CHILDLINE help ?
How does CHILDLINE reach the child in need & what happens to the child thereafter ?
Do children really call ?
What do children call CHILDLINE for ?
CHILDLINE is never seen on TV, so do children really know about the service ?
37

What kind of cases are reported at CHILDLINE ?

How many cities is CHILDLINE currently operating in ?
How do I call CHILDLINE ?
Can I make the call from a mobile ?
When should I call ?
How can I help ?
What are the tax benefits/exemptions a donor is entitled to ?
What is CIF ?
Does CHILDLINE have its own hospitals/shelters ?
How does CHILDLINE work with the Government ?
Is 1098 linked to the Police or Ambulance services ?
If you do not find what you are looking for or would like more information, do write to
us at dial1098@childlinindia.org.in . Thank you for your interest in CHILDLINE India
Foundation.
1. What is CHILDLINE ?
CHILDLINE is India's first 24-hour, free, emergency phone service for children in need of aid
and assistance. Whether you are a concerned adult or a child, you can dial 1098, the toll free
number to access our services. We not only respond to the emergency needs of children, but also
link them to services for their long-term care and rehabilitation.

2. How does CHILDLINE work ?

CHILDLINE in each city operates through a structured network of street and community youth,
non-profit organisations, institutions, and concerned individuals.
Each call centre has a team of trained youth who man the telephone lines 24 hours a day. Within
60 minutes (at most) of receiving a call the team rushes to the child and attends to the crisis at
hand. It may involve going to a police station, the Juvenile Welfare Board or a hospital. There is
a regular follow up till the child tides through the crisis, after which options for long term
rehabilitation are presented to the child.
3. Where/ how did CHILDLINE start ?
MsJerooBillimoria always found time to interact with children staying on railway stations or
Mumbai's night shelters. Children started calling her in crisis at her residence at any point of day
and night.
The seeds of CHILDLINE were sown by the urgency of such calls and the fact that all of these
38

were late in the night; after all other voluntary services were closed for the day. Each time, Jeroo
had to rush out to take these children to hospitals, police stations, shelters, anywhere to get help.
The need of the hour was a day-night emergency service that these children could call at any
time for help. The service had to be widespread and round the clock, keeping in mind that the
street children are a mobile unit and that help might be needed at any time of the day.
A telephone outreach service, backed by an extensive, round-the-clock network of support and
crisis intervention was an appropriate solution.
The rationale behind setting up a service of this kind was:
- Lack of immediate assistance when needed and no access to services
- Lack of awareness about available resources
- Lack of coordinated effort between Government and voluntary organizations
- Lack of children's participation in programmes
- Child protection not on the national agenda

4. Who owns 1098 ?

1098 is a four digit telephone number allocated exclusively to CHILDLINE India Foundation, by
the department of Tele communication, Ministry of Communication & IT, in order to set up a
nation wide toll free helpline for children in distress. The CHILDLINE service is developed and
implemented across the country by CIF. All organisations Partnering CIF to implement the
service are funded by CIF for the CHILDLINE service.

5. How is it different from any other helpline ?

Globally no other non-profit children's helpline provides outreach services. CHILDLINE goes
beyond counselling over the phone by using the telephone as a medium to link children in need
of services that exist for their rehabilitation.

6. Who does CHILDLINE reach out to ?

We work for the protection of the rights of all children in general. But our special focus is on all
children in need of care and protection, especially the more vulnerable sections, which include:
- Street children and youth living alone on the streets
- Child labourers working in the unorganised and organized sectors
- Domestic help, especially girl domestics
- Children affected by physical / sexual / emotional abuse in family, schools or institutions.
- Children who need emotional support and guidance
- Children of commercial sex workers
- Child victims of the flesh trade
- Victims of child trafficking
- Children abandoned by parents or guardians
- Missing children
39

- Run away children

- Children who are victims of substance abuse
- Differently-abled children
- Children in conflict with the law
- Children in institutions
- Mentally challenged children
- HIV/ AIDS infected children
- Children affected by conflict and disaster
- Child political refugees
- Children whose families are in crises

7. Who does CHILDLINE help?

CHILDLINE reaches out to children from 0-18 years and in extreme emergencies to young
adults up to the age of 25.

8. How does CHILDLINE reach the child in need & what happens to the child thereafter ?
After a child/concerned adult dials 1098, a CHILDLINE member who depending on the nature
of the call, provides appropriate assistance.
It may vary from counselling over the phone for emotional support and guidance, information
and referral to services for the caller, to information about CHILDLINE.
In the case of an emergency it may require reaching out to the child immediately. A CHILDLINE
team then rushes to the child within 60minutes of the call and appropriate help is provided. This
may range from taking the child to a shelter/hospital, protection from abuse, repatriation to
intensive counselling etc.
After the emergency needs of the child have been addressed, CHILDLINE explores options with
the child to study, learn a trade, go back home etc. Based on the decision of the child,
CHILDLINE links the child to an appropriate organisation in the city.
9. Do children really call ?
CHILDLINE has responded to over 13 million (as off Jan. 2008) calls nationally. Help is just a
phone call away for a number of children who would never know whom or where to ask for help.
In the first year we received 6000 calls in Mumbai and it is today over 2 million calls per year
from 81 cities. Over 60% of all calls are from children the - rest being from concerned adults.

10. What do children call CHILDLINE for ?

There are a number of reasons for which children turn to CHILDLINE.
Children call when they are ill, have met with accidents, when they are lost, being abused, in
need of shelter, have run away and want to return to their families, in need of counselling and
guidance, for CHILDLINE to perform the last rites when no family claims remains of deceased
40

children.

11. CHILDLINE is never seen on TV, so do children really know about the service ?
CHILDLINE's first mandate and priority is to ensure on the ground communication in all areas
of a city where children live in extremely vulnerable situation. Often they do not have access to
the media. Hence to make them confident that CHILDLINE will be there for them, the thrust of
CHILDLINE outreach programmes is through direct word of mouth methods.
It involves meetings with children at street corners, market places, parks, railway stations. Bus
stands etc., sharing the concept of CHILDLINE with them, teaching them how to dial 1098,
speak on the phone, etc.
Periodical evaluation of the service and the needs of the children also take place at CHILDLINE
meets, there are BalAdalats at these meetings. At CHILDLINE the largest number of volunteers
are youth who have been in vulnerable situations as children. Their ownership to the service is
very high, they feel that CHILDLINE belongs to them and assume that to call CHILDLINE
when any of them are in trouble is their responsibility.

12. What kind of cases are reported at CHILDLINE ?

There are two types of cases which are reported - Direct Intervention & Non-Intervention. The
Direct Intervention calls are when a child requires medical attention, shelter, repatriation, rescue
from abuse, death related, report a missing child, emotional support & guidance, Information/
Referral to Services etc. The Non-Intervention calls are primarily for awareness building or due
to technical connectivity problems.
Over 65% of all calls require direct intervention.
13. How many cities is CHILDLINE currently operating in ?
CHILDLINE is currently functional in 81 cities/ 25 states across the country. We aim to be in all
596 districts in the country over the next 10 years.
14. How do I call CHILDLINE ?
Currently 1098 is toll-free from all BSNL/MTNL lines.
All calls terminating on a designated BSNL/MTNL phone line are not charged to either the caller
or to the CHILDLINE centre. In some cities private tele-com service providers are also
providing connectivity to 1098.

15. Can I make the call from a mobile ?

Connection between users of different phone services is determined by the quality of
"interconnection" between telecom service providing companies.
Interconnection is how a phone provided by (for e.g.) TATA is able to connect to a BSNL
landline or how an Airtel mobile user can connect to a Hutch user.
41

Interconnection is determined by an Interconnect agreement between telecom companies that

allows them to pay each other for service provided to their customers.
Connectivity for 1098 means that all 1098 dialed calls from any telecom service provider's
instrument- whether mobile or landline or PCO - must terminate on our BSNL/MTNL instrument
at the CHILDLINE centre.
In order for this to happen private telecom service providers must agree to transfer 1098 calls to
the BSNL/MTNL exchange from where it will be routed to our centre.
The Question is will BSNL/MTNL agree to receive 1098 calls from a private telecom service
provider's number?
Yes if a interconnect charge is paid to them for each such call.
But who will foot this bill (30 paise per call)?
Either BSNL/MTNL has to agree not to charge or private telecom service provider has to agree
to pay and not charge caller.
To resolve this problem we are currently working on the following available options:
- We have to talk to each private telecom service provider to persuade them to agree to bear the
interconnect charge.
- Or we have to get TRAI to make 1098 mandatory for private service providers
- Or we have to get Dept of Telecom to agree that BSNL/MTNL will not charge interconnect
charges
- Or we have to get Ministry of Comm. & IT to agree to make 1098 a category I service in
National Numbering plan.
16. When should I call ?
CHILDLINE is a 24-hour helpline, hence if you see a child in need of care & protection you can
call up at any hour of the day!
17. How can I help ?
There are various ways in which one can support CHILDLINE.
Call 1098 when to see any child in distress
Tell every vulnerable child you see, about CHILDLINE 1098
Make a donation to CHILDLINE India Foundation so we can reach more children in more cities.
Volunteer with us
18. What are the tax benefits/exemptions a donor is entitled to ?
A donor is entitled to a 100% tax exemption Under Sec 35 AC for a donation exceeding Rs
5000/- and a 50% tax exemption Under Sec 80G for amounts below Rs 5000/19. What is CIF ?
CHILDLINE India Foundation is a registered Non-Profit, NGO founded to set up a helpline
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service for children in distress. In 1998, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment,
Government of India, appointed CHILDLINE India Foundation (CIF) as the nodal agency for
initiating and sustaining CHILDLINE 1098 across the nation. As of 2006 CHILDLINE project is
supported by the Ministry for Women & Child Development.
CIF undertakes replication of CHILDLINE, networking and facilitation, training, research and
documentation, and awareness and advocacy both at the national and international level.
20. Does CHILDLINE have its own hospitals/shelters ?
CHILDLINE does not believe in duplication of services but the integration of services that
already exist. We network with various NGO's across the country and act as a link between a
child in need and the services available. We also provide assistance in improving the quality of
services available and advocate for initiation of services where it doesn't exist.
21. How does CHILDLINE work with the Government ?
With 43% of India's population below 18 no single organisation can hope to reach every child in
distress without the support of the Government. Indeed in the welfare of India's citizens is the
primary responsibility of the Government of India. The Governments role covers drafting and
implementing legislation, framing policies, developing programs for marginalised children,
preparing the operational plan and roll-out the plans through Central and State Governments,
provide budgetary support and finally to build partnerships with civil society organisations such
as CHILDLINE. Therefore CHILDLINE builds linkages with the Government at all levels to
ensure effective reach of services. CHILDLINE also advocates with the Government for
appropriate legislation and policy frameworks. In addition CHILDLINE make recommendations
to the Planning Commission to ensure adequate support for programs aimed at child protection.
22. Is 1098 linked to the Police or Ambulance services ?
Not directly. The Police, Fire and Ambulance are given mandatory status with three digit help
lines (100/101/102). These have to be provided by all tele-com service providers and link up to
the local Police/ Fire/ Ambulance units. However CHILDLINE works very closely with the
Police, Judiciary, Health Care Department, Municipality, Education Department, Administration
and the Media. We call these the Allied systems. CHILDLINE has set up Children's Advisory
Boards (CAB) in each CHILDLINE city to which all Allied System Organisations depute
representatives. In addition CHILDLINE conducts sensitization programs amongst Allied
System Organisations to build capacities in dealing with marginalized children.

Biblography

http://www.childlineindia.org.in/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childline_India
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXCE-C3ysQ0&feature=youtu.be

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