Childline Services in India
By Jobin Abraham
[ CHILDLINE 1098]
A Project on the Childline a 24 hours service for the children to help them face their problems in life and to find out a solution for them with the help of Cousellors and Social Workers.
In 1996, Mumbai launched CHILDLINE, the country 's first toll-free tele-helpline for street children in distress. As of March 2011, total of 21 Million calls since inception have been serviced by CHILDLINE service and operates in 172 cities/districts in 30 States and UTs through its network of 415 partner organisations across India.
History
CHILDLINE was a project started by Jeroo Billimoria, then a social worker and faculty member of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and her team. After doing research among the street children of Mumbai city she concluded that the children wanted a service that they could access after the other offices and services closed. The idea of an Emergency telephone number was scoffed at by people in the community. People thought it was an ‘elite western’ concept that children on the street would never use. Jeroo Billimoria and her team conducted the survey to appeal collectively to the Department of Telecommunications (India). Four years after the project was initiated, there was the inauguration of CHILDLINE on 20 June 1996 by Mr. Tyagi, the then Commissioner of Police of Mumbai under the guidance of Jeroo Billimoria. It started as an experimental project of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. The youth that Ms. Billimoria had worked with volunteered to respond to calls and conduct awareness about the CHILDLINE service. In 1998 CHILDLINE partnered with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India to take the CHILDLINE service to 30 cities. Simultaneously a separated foundation for CHILDLINE was registered. CHILDLINE India Foundation came to be on May 29, 1999. It is a partnership between the Ministry of Women and Child Development Government of India,
[ CHILDLINE 1098]
A Project on the Childline a 24 hours service for the children to help them face their problems in life and to find out a solution for them with the help of Cousellors and Social Workers.
In 1996, Mumbai launched CHILDLINE, the country 's first toll-free tele-helpline for street children in distress. As of March 2011, total of 21 Million calls since inception have been serviced by CHILDLINE service and operates in 172 cities/districts in 30 States and UTs through its network of 415 partner organisations across India.
History
CHILDLINE was a project started by Jeroo Billimoria, then a social worker and faculty member of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and her team. After doing research among the street children of Mumbai city she concluded that the children wanted a service that they could access after the other offices and services closed. The idea of an Emergency telephone number was scoffed at by people in the community. People thought it was an ‘elite western’ concept that children on the street would never use. Jeroo Billimoria and her team conducted the survey to appeal collectively to the Department of Telecommunications (India). Four years after the project was initiated, there was the inauguration of CHILDLINE on 20 June 1996 by Mr. Tyagi, the then Commissioner of Police of Mumbai under the guidance of Jeroo Billimoria. It started as an experimental project of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. The youth that Ms. Billimoria had worked with volunteered to respond to calls and conduct awareness about the CHILDLINE service. In 1998 CHILDLINE partnered with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India to take the CHILDLINE service to 30 cities. Simultaneously a separated foundation for CHILDLINE was registered. CHILDLINE India Foundation came to be on May 29, 1999. It is a partnership between the Ministry of Women and Child Development Government of India,
References: CHILDLINE Homepage Visit CIF facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Childline-IndiaFoundation/137070779678465 CHILDLINE blog: http://www.dus-nau-aath.blogspot.com/ Twitter page:http://twitter.com/#!/CHILDLINE1098 Newsletters:http://childlineindia.org.in/1098/b12newsletters.htm Annual Report: http://childlineindia.org.in/annualreports.htm -Jobin Abraham