222 lost kids found by railways, up from 42 last year
Better CCTV coverage at all stations, more awareness campaigns and targeted drives by the RPF on CR and WR is yielding results.
222Twelve-year-old Akram Sajid was spotted alighting from a CST-Latur Super Fast Express train at Karjat station on April 21 by RPF assistant sub inspector K N Patil. The boy did not seem to know where he was headed, nor could he say anything about his parents. Soon, Patil realised that Akram was a differently-abled child who was clearly lost.
On closer inspection, Patil spotted a tattoo on his right arm that had a phone number inscribed. Akram’s distressed father answered on the other side of the line and he informed Patil that his differently-abled son had gone missing since that afternoon from their house in Borivali and that he would come to Karjat for Akram the next day. Thus, Akram was successfully reunited with his parents the next day.
Figures available with this paper show a shocking rise in this number since last year by about five times.
Railway officials told Mirror that between April 2014 and March 2015, only 23 missing children were found by the Central Railway while only 19 children were rescues by the Western Railway. However, 148 children were found by the Western Railway this year and another 74 by the Central Railway.
Railway officials credit this high figure to the increased CCTV surveillance that all railway stations have been put under in recent times, which helps them spot children suspiciously roaming around in their premises.
“Many of them leave their houses, either because they are harassed by their parents and relatives or to avoid studying,” said Sachin Bhalode, senior divisional security commissioner, Central Railway, Mumbai division.
In another instance, an eight-year-old Andheri boy was found at Virar railway station on Friday afternoon. He was spotted by a constable and taken to the station, where he was put in touch with his father.
Last year, the most number of missing children were found at Churchgate and LTT stations, while this year, CST and LTT top the list.
Lauding the efforts of his staff in reuniting missing children with their families, Anand Vijay Jha, senior divisional security commissiner of Western Railway, said, “It is the collective effort of station masters, RPF and Childline. Their partners Hamara Foundation have also been instrumental in fulfilling the mandate with respect to children in need of protection. The results of our efforts are for everyone to see. Our staff is aware of the responsibility that the railways ministry and Department of Women and Child Development has given to them. Awareness among the stakeholders and the many national-level seminars conducted by the NCRPC Delhi have helped us better our efforts.”
222Twelve-year-old Akram Sajid was spotted alighting from a CST-Latur Super Fast Express train at Karjat station on April 21 by RPF assistant sub inspector K N Patil. The boy did not seem to know where he was headed, nor could he say anything about his parents. Soon, Patil realised that Akram was a differently-abled child who was clearly lost.
On closer inspection, Patil spotted a tattoo on his right arm that had a phone number inscribed. Akram’s distressed father answered on the other side of the line and he informed Patil that his differently-abled son had gone missing since that afternoon from their house in Borivali and that he would come to Karjat for Akram the next day. Thus, Akram was successfully reunited with his parents the next day.
Akram was just one of the many cases of missing minors who are found roaming in the railway stations. With the help of better CCTV surveillance available in stations now, the railways rescued 222 missing children from their premises between April 2015 and March 2016.
Figures available with this paper show a shocking rise in this number since last year by about five times.
Railway officials told Mirror that between April 2014 and March 2015, only 23 missing children were found by the Central Railway while only 19 children were rescues by the Western Railway. However, 148 children were found by the Western Railway this year and another 74 by the Central Railway.
Railway officials credit this high figure to the increased CCTV surveillance that all railway stations have been put under in recent times, which helps them spot children suspiciously roaming around in their premises.
“Many of them leave their houses, either because they are harassed by their parents and relatives or to avoid studying,” said Sachin Bhalode, senior divisional security commissioner, Central Railway, Mumbai division.
In another instance, an eight-year-old Andheri boy was found at Virar railway station on Friday afternoon. He was spotted by a constable and taken to the station, where he was put in touch with his father.
Last year, the most number of missing children were found at Churchgate and LTT stations, while this year, CST and LTT top the list.
Lauding the efforts of his staff in reuniting missing children with their families, Anand Vijay Jha, senior divisional security commissiner of Western Railway, said, “It is the collective effort of station masters, RPF and Childline. Their partners Hamara Foundation have also been instrumental in fulfilling the mandate with respect to children in need of protection. The results of our efforts are for everyone to see. Our staff is aware of the responsibility that the railways ministry and Department of Women and Child Development has given to them. Awareness among the stakeholders and the many national-level seminars conducted by the NCRPC Delhi have helped us better our efforts.”
