Child Helpline receives over 310 mn calls in last five years: Govt

More than 31 crore calls were received on the Child Helpline in the past five years, the government said on Wednesday.

Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said there is a provision for integration of the Child Helpline with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs' Emergency Response Support System-112 (ERSS-112) and the transition is being done in a phased manner.

In a written response in the Rajya Sabha, Irani said, "In the first phase, integration of the Child Helpline with ERSS-112 has been completed in nine states -- Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Ladakh, Puducherry and Mizoram."

According to a report received from the home ministry, over 26.05 crore calls have been handled since ERSS-112 became operational, the minister said.

However, state-wise call details are not maintained centrally, she added.

According to the data shared by Irani, a total 31 crore calls were received on the 1098 Child Helpline.

Providing a year-wise breakdown of the numbers, Irani said 50,69,126 (50.69 lakh) calls were received in 2022-23, 54,84,203 (54.84 lakh) in 2021-22, 50,08,300 (50.08 lakh) in 2020-21, 72,94,688 (72.94 lakh) in 2019-20 and 90,12,362 (90.12 lakh) in 2018-19.