Revive child helpline: APCRPF

Visakhapatnam: Demanding immediate revival of 1098, child helpline service, Andhra Pradesh Child Rights Protection Forum said with the interruption of services since December 1 last year there has been an adverse impact on child rights in all the mandals of Visakhapatnam district. CRPF state president Gondu Seetharam, along with other members, submitted a memorandum to the Collector Pravin Kumar on Monday.

“Withdrawal of help line services had punctured the spirit of protecting children from child marriages, child labour, abuse on street children and child rights in the city and mandals,” the forum maintained.

There has been no mechanism to inform the authorities about any issue regarding children in the last seven months with the lapse of 1098-child help line and caused for rise in all child related cases, stated in the memorandum.

Finding fault with the authorities move and for failing to keep a tab on wide ranging children issues, the forum recalled that the child help line gets information about missing children in tourist spots, absconding children from home, children caught up in police stations for crime they have not committed, bonded labours stuck in houses, hotels and other business establishments and many others.

Responding to the petition, Collector Pravin Kumar instructed district women and children welfare department project director Chinmay Devi to resolve the issue at the earliest. He also directed all the departments concerned to work in tandem for addressing the complaints till the service gets revived.