President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday presented the National Award for Child Welfare to HELP Director N.V.S. Rammohan recognising the efforts of the non-governmental organisation in reaching out to children in distress.
Union Minister of Women and Child Development gave away a cash prize of Rs. 3 lakh and a citation at a function in New Delhi on the occasion of Children’s Day.
Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Rammohan, also former Chairman of the Prakasam district Child Welfare Committee, said the recognition from the Centre came as a morale booster to work even harder to rescue and rehabilitate children in trouble.
Child Marriage Prohibition officers at the grassroots level should be more responsive to prevent the social menace, he felt. HELP, entrusted with the running of the child helpline 1098 in the district, often struggled to stop child marriages in the last minute, where the menace was rampant.
Compensation to victims of child trafficking in many cases suffered inordinate delay,he said, adding that conviction rate in child trafficking cases had to be improved.
