Find every child

Reaching Street-Connected Children

We see street-connected every day, living under the bridge, working at a nearby garbage dump, selling toys on the local train, or washing a car at the traffic signal. They are in every corner of our country, yet invisible to many. 

An estimated 18 million children live on the streets in India, home to one of the largest child populations in the world. Hundreds of thousands of street-connected children pass through transport terminals as they try to escape conflict, abuse, poverty, and trauma. For many, public transport represents opportunity and the chance of a new start but the dangers they end up facing can be far worse than the problems they left behind. 

It can also make the ideal hunting ground for predators, gangs, and criminals seeking to exploit and abuse vulnerable children. Reaching out to these children as early as possible while they are in a moving train or after they arrive at a bus or railway station is crucial for their protection, restoration, and rehabilitation. 

We aim to prevent children from slipping into a life on the street and suffering all the harm and abuse we know that this can bring.

Preventing children from taking to a life on the streets

At Railway Children India, we work to ensure that ‘No child ever has to live on the streets’. Every child deserves protection, the right to a nurturing family environment, education, and the chance to fulfill their potential. We continue to strengthen these safety nets with:

• Outreach workers

• Child Help Desks

• Child Protection Stakeholders

• Railway Officials and workers

And by working with others such as Social Welfare Officers, Community Teachers, older children, Community Champions, and Police to keep children safe and protected.

How YOU can help us protect more children

Over the last 25 years, we have protected more than 100,000 children across 35 railway stations.

We continue to work to find the best solutions and practices to break the cycle of abuse, neglect, and family breakdown and keep children SAFE for good. We develop safety nets for the most vulnerable of children before, during, and after they are lost to the streets. Whether it is our outreach workers, rail workers being our eyes and ears, or community workers, their focus is on providing a safe environment for children to survive and thrive.

Please help make more children feel safe.