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A shoeshine boy at Dhanbad station on Tuesday. (Gautam Dey)
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Shoeshine boys, minor tea and coffee vendors on trains and platforms or children washing dishes at eateries near Dhanbad station can dare to hope.
A childline helpdesk for the rescue and rehabilitation of working children, minor vagabonds and petty juvenile delinquents will soon come into effect at Dhanbad station, a high-level meeting at the district collectorate led by DC Sunil Kumar Burnwal decided on Monday evening.
A venture of the district administration and Childline India Foundation (Dhanbad), the deskwill be manned 24/7 by two persons, enabling people to personally bring to notice instances of child abuse.
A transit home for rescued children near the child remand home in Bhuda was also discussed. Childline India Foundation (Dhanbad) director Sanjay Mishra said rescued children could be educated there with funds from the integrated child protection scheme, Union ministry of women and child development.
A task force headed by additional district magistrate (law and order) Balmiki Prasad Singh will visit “child-vulnerable” bus stands, collieries and industrial pockets.
“We will visit the areas,” Singh said, adding the new panel had members like sub-divisional officer George Kumar, district social welfare officer Bandhu Fernandez, DSP (traffic) P.C. Jha and assistant labour commissioner Shyam Sundar Pathak.
These apart, awareness documentaries will be aired in cinema halls and on cable TV.
Childline India’s Mishra said talks with Sudhir Kumar, divisional railway manager (Dhanbad division) of East Central Railway for space at the station for the help kiosk were “fruitful”. He added their existing toll-free child helpline 1098 was open to all.
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