Title - GRP’s social work, reuniting lost children with parents

In July, a month after she was kidnapped from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus three-year-old Sangita Pawar was reunited with her parents. It was a momentous occasion for her parents but routine job for the Railway Police.Every year, about 1,500 children, most of whom run away from home, land up in one of the 17 railway stations in the city. In six years between 2006 and 2012 (up to September), 10,657 children were found in 17 railway stations of Mumbai. The Government Railway Police (GRP) plays a critical role in their safe journey back home.The GRP has been able to reunite most of these children with their parents. Just 266 are still in the remand home in Mumbai. In the calendar year 2012, until September, 1,115 ‘lost’ children were found at stations in Mumbai. Of these, 774 were boys and the remaining 341 girls. Almost 50 per cent of these children were found in just five stations: Vashi (118 children), Thane (112), Kalyan (101), Dadar (96) and CST (90).According to police Inspector Rajendra Pal, “This year, out of 1,115 children found, 768 (555 boys and 213 girls) were immediately handed over to their parents, 343 children (216 boys, 127 girls) were sent to the remand home, 194 (112 boys and 82 girls) were handed over to parents through court and 133 are still in the remand home. Four children will be released from the remand home and handed over to their parents soon. “Last year, 1,486 children (1,081 boys and 405 girls) were found in Mumbai’s stations.“In such a tender age, these children are unable to understand their welfare. To hold them back from choosing any wrong path is not an easy task,” says a policeman.The GRP’s role is no less than a social worker, he said. Although they work in tandem with NGOs given the number of formalities to be met, the GRP is involved from the start to end in all cases.“Most children — generally in the 10-12 years age group — who run way do so because they are neglected by their families. In 90 per cent of the cases, they reveal their parents’ address making the police job easier. But in 10 per cent cases, the children are either mentally retarded or do not want to return. In such cases, the police contact the children’s welfare committee and through court hand over their custody to NGOs. “A significant percentage of the police force is engaged in this,” said Prabhat Kumar, Commissioner, Railway.There are 31 NGOs working in association with 17 remand homes. At stations like CST and Mumbai Central, Sneha Sadan’s project ‘Amchi Kholi’ is run by social workers. Praveen Joshi, a social worker who is in charge of Amchi Kholi near Platform 18 of CST said, “Most children run away during the time of examination results. The number of girls is less than half the number of boys. Young children are few and are either abandoned by their parents or are separated by mistake.”Why do most children land in Mumbai? “Perhaps this is impact of films. They think they may become a ‘bada admi’ in Mumbai. They come here to fulfill their dreams,” said Prabhat Kumar.