Child helpline number 1098 to merge with 112; NGOs worried

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: With the Karnataka government set to merge the child helpline number 1098 with Karnataka Police helpline number 112, experts and NGOs hitherto dealing with childrens' problems fear that many sensitive cases may go unreported as a result of the move. The child helpline number 1098 will be discontinued within another week. But experts say that number 1098 is easy for children to remember. It is in reverse numerical order, quite convenient to call in times of trouble.

Now this helpline will be officially merged with 112 under the Ministry of Home Affairs and will be manned by Karnataka Police instead of child care NGOs in the state. Although the government has proposed to make the move a positive one, experts in the field fear that many sensitive cases may go unreported. NGOs in the city said that the helpline in Rajyajalli receives about a thousand calls a day.

These calls are made by children, relatives and sometimes activists. Chitra Anchan, Program Director, Childline India Foundation (CIF), Karnataka, said, "Children are used to calling 1098. Our staff are trained to bond with them to solve their problems. We have to wait and see how effectively the new government will act. Child helplines should not be influenced by police officers," he said.

After June 19, calls made to 1098 will be forwarded directly to 112. From there the caller will have to enter automatic selection. Callers need to press 1 for police assistance, 2 for traffic police, 3 for cyber police and 4 for enquiry. Child rights experts are of the opinion that people are afraid to report on 112 to the police.

Child Rights Trust (CRI) executive director Vasudev Sharma said, "When we receive calls from children we access the helpline 24x7 and hopefully the police will be able to do the same. There were many missed calls and the NGOs made sure to call the number back to check if everything was fine with the caller."