NEW DELHI: A toll-free telephone helpline for children in distress is now available in 72 cities.

Supported by the Women and Child Development Ministry, "Childline" number 1098 is available round-the-clock and it could be accessed either by a child or an adult, according to an official spokesperson.

On receiving a call, immediate assistance, including medical, shelter, restoration, rescue, sponsorship and counselling, is provided to a child. Subsequently, the child is linked to services for long-term care and rehabilitation.

The Ministry has entrusted the service to Childline India Foundation, a voluntary organisation.

"Childline" is available in Agartala, Aurangabad, Chennai, Guwahati, Kancheepuram, Kozhikode, Nadia, Pune, South 24 Parganas, Varanasi, Shimla, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kanyakumari, Kutch, Nagapattinam, Puri, Thiruvananthapuram, Vijayawada, Ludhiana, Ahmednagar, Baroda, Cuddalore, Imphal, Karaikal, Lucknow, Nagpur, Rourkela, Tirunelveli, Visakhapatnam, Akola, Bhopal, Delhi, Indore, Kochi, Mangalore, Nasik, Ranchi, Thrissur, Waynad, Allahabad, Bhubaneshwar, East Midnapore, Jammu, Kolkata, Madurai, New Jalpaiguri, Salem, Tiruchi, West Midnapore, Alwar, Chandigarh, Goa, Jaipur, Kollam, Mumbai, Patna, Shillong, Udaipur, Agra, Amarawati, Gorakhpur, Kalyan, Kota, Murshidabad, Port Blair, Sholapur, Ujjain and Gurgaon.

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