LAHORE: The distressed and troubled children and girls prefer to turn to railways stations in pursuit of their desires and fulfilment of goals.
Ever increasing data indicates that be it a family dispute or unwillingness to continue the studies, presence of 32 help centres of Railways Police in every crowded railway station of Pakistan serve as a temporary refuge and security for hapless runaway children and young girls.
According to the staff of help centres, they always prefer to take the trains on their own after minor tiffs with their parents or due to lack of interest in studies.
Particularly, a teen who makes the decision to runaway from home needs a safe place to stay, and help centres of Railways police provide shelter, due care and protection until their safe transition back home. If timely actions were not taken, the life of vulnerable children might have been otherwise in danger.
A youth, who makes the decision to runaway, is not a ‘bad kid’ but, for whatever his/her unique reasons, feels overwhelmed with problems and stressed at home.
According to the statistics, teens who runaway, come from all types of class and geographical areas and reach major railway stations like Lahore, Karachi, Quetta, Hyderabad, Rohri, Sukkur, Multan, Khanewal, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar.
Most importantly, besides providing a temporary housing and food, the staff of these help centres also impart them specialised counselling to alter their mindset.
A total of 927 children including teen girls have been rescued by the Railways police staff from potential exploitation across the country in the duration from Jan 1 to Nov 30, 2024. These help centres were set up on special purpose to ensure the safety of vulnerable children travelling by train and, to assist the passengers in the retrieval of their lost luggage and other helps.
Fortunately, these distressed children when come in contact with Railways police are always taken care of throughout the country. If in case, the whereabouts of any of these children are not found, then, they are handed over to the Provincial Child Protection Bureau or NGOs like Edhi under proper acknowledgement. These institutions further play a vital role for their
counselling, due care and protection.
Apart from returning children, staff of these centres also provides other helps to the passengers in the form of retrieval of lost luggage and other miscellaneous helps.
Total of 2550 passengers were assisted in the current year, in the retrieval of their lost luggage that include smartphones, laptops, ornaments, expensive clothes, wallets and handbags. Approximate calculated value of these luggage is more than Rs30m. Furthermore, about 20000 passengers were also provided with basic facilities of wheel chairs, stretchers and first aid.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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