The problem… 

The problem that Railway Children India has been trying to solve is the fact that children get separated from family and majority of them transit through transport network at risk. Ultimately these children slip into various forms of abusive and exploitative situation including street life. The problem is acute on the Howrah-Delhi railway network, widely used for migration and child trafficking. The line includes 66 major railway junctions and crosses 35 districts of 5 states. 

About Railway Children India – building a safe ecosystem for children

Hundreds of thousands of children alone and at-risk pass-through transport terminals as they try to escape conflict, abuse, poverty and trauma. For many, public transport represents opportunity and the chance of a new start but the dangers they end up facing can be far worse than the problems they left behind. 
It can also make the ideal hunting ground for predators, gangs and criminals seeking to exploit and abuse vulnerable children. Reaching out to these children as early as possible while they are in a moving train or after they arrive at a bus or railway station is crucial for their protection, restoration and rehabilitation. We aim to prevent children from slipping into a life on the street and suffering all of the harm and abuse we know that this can bring.

Over 25 years, Railway Children India (RCI) has worked with at risk children with a singular vision of creating a “world where no child has to live on the streets”. Identifying children as early as possible who are at risk of getting separated from family or who have separated from the family and are in transit (railway and roadway network) is critical for the prevention strategy. And once identified, help them get back safely to family and continue to stay back and thrive within the family. Railway Children India has been working in India since 1996 as an international development organisation and registered as a section 8 not for profit organisation in the year 2013. RC has worked at more than 35 railway stations and reunified more than 100,000 children (found alone and at risk) with their respective families. RC has played a significant role in the development of the first ever Government Guidelines on protecting Children in Contact with the Railways. Subsequently, it was also involved in the process of developing Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) on child protection for the Indian Railways (2015).

Where and how we work

Across India, we’ve saved and changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children at risk of taking to a life on the streets. And we’ve achieved significant changes in building child-friendly transport hubs, strengthening families and communities, while developing a case for why and how to better protect children by working with them.

We’ve been on the frontline protecting the most vulnerable children in society. We’ve seen and heard what needs to change – for children everywhere. And we’re leading lasting change across three levels: 

1. Making transport hubs safer for children 

As the nominated resource partner for the Indian Railways, our on-ground team in collaboration with transport officials are able to reach children arriving alone on platforms as fast as possible and early in their journey, before they get caught in a cycle of exploitation and abuse. They are first brought to a place of safety – our Child Help Desks to address their immediate needs, build their trust and determine next steps. Our adept teams spend time with children, gaining their trust and providing a safe place to stay while also assessing the child’s vulnerability, in addition to working out the best short-term and long-term solution for their individual needs. From the first point of contact we provide access to immediate help at transport hubs, and along with the existing child protection systems (Child Welfare Committee, Child Care Institutions, District Child Protection Units) we work to reintegrate children. 

We train transport staff, police, the Railway Protection Force and others working in and around transport hubs to quickly spot vulnerable children and get them to safety so we can start supporting them. It’s all part of our commitment to creating child-friendly stations.  

Alongside rescuing children from transport hubs, we reunite families and support them to stay together. Where children are at a heightened risk of separation, we tackle the issues that led to separation, build the resilience of the families, by referrals and linkages to social security schemes and services, emotional guidance to improve the parent-child relationship and facilitating positive parenting.

Over 25 years, we have worked at and around 35 railway stations reaching over 1,00,000 children. 

1. Empowering communities and families to protect children

We work to educate and equip parents, families, community members, local governments and identify potential community champions to strengthen community responses and collectively build safe communities for children.

It takes a village to raise a child (and a community to protect it!). We believe that communities have the capacity to find solutions to protect their children. That is why we work closely with key community members to raise awareness on child rights issues, mobilize community responses and actions to enhance children’s safety, and to ensure communities participate in creating a protective environment for children. Our integrated approach to child protection has been built on field experience research and in-depth vulnerability assessments conducted across communities.

Through partnerships with parents, teachers, local authorities, passengers, public and the transport community we build communities committed to protecting children and young. Parenting workshops, awareness raising, skills training and confidence building help everyone spot and support vulnerable children, so more children have a chance of a brighter future. 

Family strengthening: Parents and families form the first circle of protection for children. Strengthening the capacity of families to reinforce a safety net that provides care, protection and nurturing for their children is a pivotal step towards preventing children from taking to a street life, and separation from parental care. 

Investing in families delivers a dividend that is not easily measured in economic terms but has outcomes that can change the landscape of children protection. RCI’s model for family strengthening is all encompassing, designed to ensure that every family is resilient to protect their children.

Since the advent of the Covid19 pandemic, over 4 years and across 30 communities, we have reached and protected 18,000 children and families. 

1. Strengthening child protection systems and policies

As experts in the field of street-connected children, we work closely with local authorities, policy makers, government officials and civil society to find and implement ways to strengthen and better resource child protection systems so that no child is left behind. And we work alongside other NGOs and with committees to make sure vulnerable children are recognised and protected on all levels.

Whilst social and government structures and public policies are in place to protect the most vulnerable, we know that – despite the best intentions – there are many gaps in the system that allow children at risk to repeatedly slip through the cracks and into serious danger. Capacity building, collaborating with key players in the sector and developing effective safeguarding solutions is how we work towards strengthening child protection systems and policies for children.

Over the years, our partnership net has extended into a countrywide rescue and reunification web for children, with a key partnership at the helm of this feat – developing the Railways’ Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) and Guidebook in context to child rights and protection in collaboration with the Indian Railways, delivering child-friendly stations across India. We also work closely with the Railways to train and build the capacity of their staff who are actively contributing to a protective ecosystem for children.

Our work also extends to collaborating with peers in the sector, actively participating in child rights cohorts and collectives and influencing policy at the state and national level/ putting child protection at the top of government agendas.

Our partnership with the Indian Railways overs the past 11 years has culminated into creating 50,000 child rights champions (trained railway officials) who have proactively protected 4095 children in 2023-2024 alone. 

SPOTLIGHT: Influencing a coordinated multistakeholder child protection net – Convergence across the Delhi-Howrah network

Despite existing child protection mechanisms, children are increasingly transiting through the Indian rail and bus networks in high numbers. The problem is desperately acute on the Delhi-Howrah mainline network which is a major source of transit and lacks a coordinated child protection net. We are building a standardised child-friendly transport network model across the Delhi-Howrah transport network that can be replicated across the Indian Railway Network, and potentially extended or adapted to other transport networks. This innovative programme enables the railways and child protection stakeholders to collaborate and coordinate to activate child protection mechanisms and protect and restore children back to their families or alternate family-based care.

• SAFETY NET across the Delhi Howrah railway network, spanning 66 railway stations and 35 districts, that can protect 20000 children every year.
• Train railway officials who can then protect children across the network- over 4000 children protected by trained officials in the last three years. 
• COLLABORATING AND BUILDING THE CAPACITY WITH THE DISTRICT CHILD PROTECTION UNITs (DCPU) across the Delhi Howrah network to enable them to coordinate with railway authorities and reunite children with family.

Where we work

Today, Railway Children India is present across the following:

Railway stations, bus stations and communities

• 3 states
• 5 railway stations & 1 bus terminal
• 7 slum communities
• 100,000 passengers
• 4000 children annually

Delhi-Howrah rail network

• 5 states
• 35 districts
• 66 railway stations
• 20,000 children at risk (by 2030)

To know more about our work log on to www.railwaychildren.org.in

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