WCD ministry asks states to integrate child helpline with 112, SOS app

The ministry also said that an integrated helpline effort would be linked to the DCPUs, with the help of the C-DAC

The Union Ministry of Women & Child Development (WCD) has written to all states, asking them to integrate the 1098 child helpline with the telephonic shortcode 112 and the 112 India app and link them to district child protection units (DCPUs) of their states.

The ministry also detailed the process of integrating the helpline's backend process, asking for dedicated officers and office space for 'control rooms'.

As per the circular sent on Monday by the ministry to principal secretaries of states and seen by DH, the ministry said that the DCPUs under the WCD departments of states would look at the functioning of the helpline with the help of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, an autonomous body under the IT ministry.

The ministry also said that an integrated helpline effort would be linked to the DCPUs, with the help of the Thiruvananthapuram-based C-DAC.

The ministry had earlier said that children's helpline number 1098, run by NGO ChildLine, will be linked with the national emergency response number 112 and run by the Home ministry. After the integration, the response system will tackle emergency calls from children and women.

States have been asked to identify a nodal officer and second officers to help the C-DAC in its work. They have also been asked to set aside a space for the 'WCD Control Room' to function, with the requisite arrangements so that calls from the child and women helplines can be taken. The C-DAC, too, has been asked to nominate a nodal officer to coordinate activities between the states and the WCD ministry.

Earlier this year, under the draft guidelines of the Mission Vatsalya segment of the ministry, which covers its schemes and initiatives for children, the ministry said that the helpline number 1098, run by the NGO ChildLine, will be integrated with the national emergency response number 112, and the Ministry of Home Affairs will oversee the integration. The move had drawn flak from child rights activists since the 1098 helpline was run for children exclusively, while the 112 helpline, launched in 2019 as a single-line emergency response, was an emergency response number for everyone.

On the other hand, the C-DAC runs the women's helpline number 181, operated by the Home ministry with financial help from the Nirbhaya Fund.