Childline to start sessions at Lakshadweep

KOZHIKODE: The Childline India Foundation (CIF) would officially start its sessions in Lakshadweep from January 29. Officials from Kerala and Tamil Nadu would commence training volunteers on the islands to deal with the child rights issues in the last week of this month. This is the first time the NGO is stretching out its wings to the people of the archipelago. The CIF South India officials will hold in-house training for the volunteers on Kavaratti island where the office has been set up, said the region's senior programme coordinator Deepak Dinesan.

The first session of the in-house training programme is scheduled to conclude on February 4. “The issues in Kerala or Tamil Nadu and that in Lakshadweep would be different. We have to identify them in the preliminary stage and train the volunteers accordingly to face the situation on the island,” he said. Childline had been intervening in issues where children have been deprived of their rights and offering sessions for volunteers in schools. They were also instrumental in bringing out several abuse cases against children. By setting up a similar branch in Lakshadweep, they aim at bringing the issues of child rights violations on the island to the mainstream, said the official.