Child helpline centre renewed at Chennai Central railway station after delay

CHENNAI: After much delay, the Directorate of Children Welfare and Special Services (DCWSS) has renovated the Child Helpline (CHL) 1098 centre located at Central railway station. It is expected to employ additional staff in the coming months.

Meanwhile, calls to renovate other centres, especially CHL in Villivakkam, have gained momentum.

In Tamil Nadu, the 1098 calls are currently attended to all day by ten staff at the DCWSS head office in Chennai. Additionally, the staff are employed in railway stations under Southern Railways (SR) at MGR Central, Egmore and Villivakkam.

Calling for improved facilities, the staff had requested a renovation for quite some time. Hence, with the intervention of the Rotary Club, the CHL at Central railway station has been renovated. Besides basic facilities, additional facilities like bunker beds have also been added.

In the wake of this, calls are made to renovate the Villivakkam CHL as well, which has been in a bad state for several years. "Villivakkam 1098 centre is in dire condition, and calls for its renovation have been made several times to the department. The centre is standing in a dilapidated condition, with even snakes venturing inside and rains causing flooding during the monsoon," said a staffer.

Additionally, the helpline staff have called for a prompt salary credit every month. "With the department planning on adding more staff, which is imperative, we request prompt credit of the salaries for the staff. We are yet to receive the October salary," said another staffer.

Meanwhile, addressing staff shortages and workload in handling CHL calls, the DCWSS will hire 13 candidates for three roles, including call operators, IT supervisor and help line administrator.