Program for Children in Contact with Railway Stations (Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai)

India’s railway network spans a distance of over 1.2 lakh kilometres, and ferries around 22.7 million people traveling across 7,300 railway stations, every day. It is among the cheapest modes of transportation in the country. It is estimated that 1,20,000 children arrive unaccompanied on railway platforms every year - this includes children who have run away from home, children who have been separated from their families and more. For many of these children, railway centres become their first point of contact with an urban centre. A sizeable number of runaways and street children also end up living in and around railway stations. Then there are those who are kidnapped or trafficked; many are transported through the railway network, and many others are abandoned at railway stations. 

All these children can be categorised as children in need of care and protection. They are constantly at risk and are vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, violence, substance addiction and more. Therefore it is imperative that efforts are made to identify and rescue vulnerable children in and around railway stations, and bring them under the child protection system. 

Railway stations are key transit points from where vulnerable children can be brought under the safety net, before they fall into the hands of abusers. CHILDLINE with part-support from the Ministry of Women and Childline and the Ministry of Railways has set up Child Help Desks (CHDs) at Railway Stations to provide immediate assistance (food, medical care, temporary shelter) to vulnerable children found in and around railway stations. 

The Program for Children in Contact with Railway Stations (PCCRS) was instituted in April 2017, in partnership with Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives, to create an enhanced model of the Child Help Desk at key railway stations where daily footfalls are especially high. This enhanced model aids in identifying and rescuing a larger number of vulnerable children, and also create provisions for the following: 

• Restoration of rescued children 
• Open shelters that provide immediate shelter to children who are rescued 
• De-addiction services for children under the influence of substances
• Sensitisation and training programmes for station-level stakeholders including Railway Protection Force, ticket collectors, porters, vendors, even passengers

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai was adopted as a PCCRS station in September 2018, and has since rescued 1,531 children in need of care and protection.

PCCRS looks to ensure that children in need of care and protection, who are found in and around railway stations are brought under the safety net, before they set out into the city, where the risks and dangers that they face are innumerable.  

Expected outcomes of PCCRS include: 

1. Children in distress or danger in and around railway stations can be brought under the child protection system  
2. Children who have been separated from their families can be restored 
3. Children living in and around railway platforms would be provided shelter and care at child care institutions and at open shelters 
4. Children who are addicted to substances would be referred for de-addiction 
5. Station-level stakeholders ranging from porters and cleaners to ticket collectors and other railway staff, would be equipped with the knowledge and skills to identify vulnerable children, and this would increase the chances of a child in distress being brought to the notice of CHILDLINE 

At CST, we have thus far been able to rescue an average of 95 children every month. Of the total children rescued at CST, 340 have been restored with the families. 66% have been provided shelter at child care institutions.