Andhra Pradesh child helpline is not kids' stuff, say parents
As per the victim, the child helpline is dysfunctional not only in Kurnool but in many other places for close to a year.
Visakhapatnam: K. Nagaraj, an estranged father of an 8-year-old girl, called child helpline number 1098 several times to know the health condition of his daughter who was in her grand parents’ home in Kurnool.
“I got to know that my father-in-law was treating my child badly and that she was injured. I called the helpline expecting the child protection officer to rescue my kid. However, there was no response from their end. No action has been taken so far on my complaint,” he said.
As per the victim, the child helpline is dysfunctional not only in Kurnool but in many other places for close to a year.
The Centre had involved NGOs for proper functioning of the child helpline. The organisations claim that they cannot work efficiently due to a delay in the release of funds from the ministry of women and child development.
Association for Rural Development and Action Research (Ardar) was associated to the child helpline as a collaborative organisation in Visakhapatnam. But, it has stopped working from December 2016 due to a lack of funds.
“The Central government gives around '10-11 lakh every year. Ardar could not spend the same amount six months ahead of the deadline,” said Mr Gondu Seetaram, state president of Child Rights Protection Forum.
He said that the forum has been requesting the government to appoint an organisation for effective implementation of services.
Recently, the project screening committee has finalised the Society for Education and Education Development (SEED) as the partner organisation for Visakhapatnam district.
The collaborative organisation receives calls, responds to them and does long term follow-up of calls received. Additionally, the organisations are responsible for awareness, training, research and documentation. The nodal organisation ensures that issues faced with respect to calls are addressed effectively.
According to State Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairperson Ganta Hymavathi, there are few districts where collaborative organisations are not functional, while nodal organisations are not effective in few districts. The commission is working to bring in more organisations to deal with this crisis situation.