Railways aim to develop child-friendly spaces for runaway kids

Indian Railway has started developing a child-friendly space for underprivileged children found loitering in and around the railway stations or are found from trains at crucial railway stations.

Recently, a child-friendly space has been created at Pune railway station in association with the Hope for Children Foundation (HFCF), which provides proper counselling to underprivileged children after recovering and before handing them over to their parents. Such type of children's space would be created at all major railway stations in association with various social organisations.

According to the Ministry of State Railways Darshana Jardosh, the Indian Railways has created this child-friendly space at Pune railway station to take up underprivileged children found at railway stations. Along with the HFCF, the Indian Railways has arranged proper counselling for all the children recovered from the station and brought Pune railway station child-friendly space.

All facilities have been provided in a child-friendly space for entertainment, play, and a homely feel to the children.

The railway aims to create such child-friendly spaces at almost all important railway stations in India, with various social organisations interested in rendering such services to children.

According to officials, nearly 2,201 children have been found in and around the railway areas and travelling in trains in suspicious conditions, recovered by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) in 2022.

The recovered children are given to their parents after proper counselling as many of them had fled away from their petty issues with their parents.

An official said that in 2021 RPF recovered 11,900 children. There is a need to make a homely place at railway stations where children are in a home-like atmosphere. The children are counselled in the child-friendly space and then handed over to their parents.

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