In the last couple of weeks, many child rights activists have expressed concern over the proposal to move Childline 1098 helpline under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs, as suggested under Mission Vatsalya. Childline India Foundation (CIF) has responded to the concerns, saying that it is not clear yet about the guidelines for the implementation of this change and said that it “jointly” shares the uncertainty and worry.
In a letter to Childline directors, CIF Executive Director Anjaiah Pandiri said, “I also take the opportunity to address the emerging concerns being experienced with regards to the draft Mission Vatsalya document which do not contain clear guidelines for implementation of CHILDLINE 1098 services. At CIF, we are cognisant of the uncertainty and worry that we jointly share. I assure you that we are in contact with the Ministry of Women and Child Development, in this regard as well as on other routine matters. We will keep you informed of any information as we understand further. Until then, I count on you all, our cherished Childline network to continue work as usual, in Childline’s way, 24X7 for children in need of care and protection. Our regional resource centre and state programs teams shall remain in service of the network, as per usual, and activities shall progress to plan.”
The letter also confirmed that the foundation had received the grant-in-aid for the period of 2021-22 from the WCD Ministry and would disburse the funds for the same soon. “As soon as the grant disbursements are complete, we shall proceed with the necessary governance and other processes towards grant-in-aid application requests for the current financial year 2022-2023,” it said.
This is the first response from CIF on Mission Vatsalya and the concerns it has raised. When TNM spoke to civil society experts working towards child safety and child rights last week, many had mentioned that the CIF had not made clear its own stand.
Under the proposed draft guidelines for Mission Vatsalya, which have been sent to state secretaries for their comments, 1098 is proposed to be merged with 112 emergency number. Child rights defenders had said that this might result in children in distress calling Childline not getting adequate response because the operator on the 112 line, as opposed to Childline, may not have the requisite sensitivity and training to comfort and guide children. Further, they feared that this might also mean police answering the calls, even though a majority of calls coming to Childline have been found to not require rescue or police intervention, besides the problem of children and even adults reporting children in distress being fearful of law enforcement officials. Further, while there is no clarity or official word on the matter yet, child rights defenders are worried that Childline may eventually be phased out, and the interim, when it moved under MHA from WCD ministry, could result in lack of transparency of data.