Rakshyak

In India, a child goes missing every 8 minutes (NCRB). In Odisha alone, 100s of children run away everyday and land up at railway platforms only to become potential targets of child trafficking, sexual abuse, begging and child labour.

The consequences are quite evident:

Increased vulnerability to child trafficking

Increased vulnerability to child labour

Increased vulnerability to child beggary

Increased vulnerability to drug addiction

Increased vulnerability to flesh trade

Children are the building blocks in the making of a civilized society, and to protect theses blocks from disintegration, the Govt. of India has postulated the "Child Care Protection Act” which is in the best interest of a child. The factors taken into account in determining the child’s best interests include-

(a) the safety of the child

(b) the child’s physical and emotional needs

Since this social challenge is burgeoning in leaps and bounds, SOCH considers it as its social obligation to help these children in difficulty. There is a need to step up the intensity and widen the reach of operation keeping the best interests of the child under paramount consideration.

OUTREACH AND NETWORKING: While outreaching focuses on identification, observation, interaction and rescue of runaway/missing/abandoned children, Networking is all about rapport building, creating awareness and sensitizing different stakeholders about child issues.

COUNSELLING CENTRE ACTIVITIES: It helps children to relax and refresh through indoor games, NFE sessions, music, entertainment, drawings and fast-aid before counselling begins.

COUNSELLING: A self-expressive term which helps restore trust, faith and belief. For children, it will be to get to the root cause of the action. It helps to bring the child's state of mind to ground level. For parents, it would act as an exercise in introspection. It will help in minimising a child’s anxieties about a bleak future.

ADDRESS TRACING: The priority is reuniting the child with the family. We try our best to unite the child with his biological parents.

CHILD RESETTLEMENT: It is achieved either by family reunion or by referral to other institutions

FOLLOW UP SUPPORT: We have monthly and quarterly follow-up system. When required, the team pays home-visits to the reunited children.

Starting in a one room with a handful of volunteers at the Bhubaneswar railway station, SOCH has now grown to 3 districts with 25 staffs and more than 100 volunteers from different areas of work. SOCH works to rescue children who are lost, being trafficked and have run away from their homes.

Project Rakshyak being the core activity, it has also expanded to project Punarjivan and Project Pankh to create a just society where all children are living happily and enjoying all their due rights. From its inception till 31st July 2018, SOCH has rescued and resettled 4,449 children and has reunited 3,161 children (of the rescued children) with their families from difficult situation under project Rakshyak. SOCH has conducted 2 behaviour modification camps with 20 street connected hard behaviour children and 17 family connected hard behaviour children under project Punarjivan. 441 youths have been helped with counselling and 89 with vocational training support, of which 10 youths have been placed with jobs under Project Pankh.