Karnataka   

Gulbarga gets child helpline

GULBARGA: Gulbarga district will be the fifth in the country and the first in South India to get Childline project would be launched shortly in collaboration with the Childline India Foundation (CIF), Rural Development and Panchayat Raj institutions, Catholic Relief Society (CRS) and Don Bosco PyaR.

Although the Childline project with 24-hour toll-free phone outreach service linking children in need of help and protection had been introduced in 75 towns and cities, only four districts – Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, Kishengunj and Purnea — of North Bihar covered so far under the Childline project covering the district and Gulbarga district has been added to this four districts now.

First started in Mumbai in June 1996, the Childline project spread its wing to most States with eight cities covered in Maharashtra, six in Tamil Nadu, five in Kerala and in other States.

In Karnataka, the Childline project is in vogue only in Bangalore and Mangalore cities. Under the project, a universal toll-free number 1098 would be put in operation in areas covered under the project and anybody from any corner of the district using telephone or mobile can reach the Childline.

Gulbarga Zilla Panchayat chief executive officer P.C. Jaffer, who had taken the initiative to get Gulbarga district included in the Childline project successfully, told The Hindu that the efforts were on to get the Childline project inaugurated by Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan and Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa during their visit to Gulbarga on July 5 to inaugurate the Circuit Bench of the Karnataka High Court here.

The project Childline works with the marginalised children, including street children, youth living alone on street, child labour, abused children, child victims of flesh trade, differently abled children, drug addicts, children in conflict with law, mentally ill children, children affected by HIV and AIDS, children whose families were in crisis. According to official sources, an analysis of the Childline data showed that lack of permanent emotional support, absence of educational opportunities, abuse and exploitation, sexual abuse, harassment by police, peer pressure, rejection and dissatisfaction with the family were the key issues.

Sources said the Catholic Relief Society (CRS), a Hyderabad-based non-governmental organisation, had agreed to foot 50 per cent of the budget for the Childline project for initial three years and the remaining would be provided by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department.

The Childline India Foundation (CIF) with its headquarters in Mumbai would supervise and monitor the functioning of the Childline project in Gulbarga district. The budget for the first three years is estimated at Rs. 76 lakh. Father Rose Pazhayapaambil of the Don Bosco Pyar said that apart from a centre in Gulbarga, the Childline project would have sub-centers at Wadi in Chitapur which would be manned by Margadarshi, another sub-centre at Jewargi, would be manned by BIRDS Heal, and the Yadgir sub-centre would be run by Don Bosco College.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Karnataka has surplus fertilizer stocks, claims Deve Gowda
Processions taken out in many taluks
73 p.c. polling in Uttara Kannada
Hike in global prices led to fertilizer crisis? Business sense
Free phone-in career guidance programme
Gram panchayat office damaged
Gulbarga gets child helpline
Farmers demand jobs under NREGS
Madhesis defiant
Over 1,000 farmers get fertilizers
Protest against Hogenakkal project
Woman duped
Prohibitory orders

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu