BENGALURU: In the past three years, Karnataka recorded a total of 1,07,305 distress calls from minors. Irked by the data, child rights activists in the state have demanded remedial measures and data on action taken against the perpetrators.
Activists also alleged that these numbers could possibly be under-reported, and a district-level breakdown is a must to understand how local communities can help in reducing these numbers.
Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Minister for Women and Child Development and Empowerment of Differently-Abled and Senior Citizens, revealed the data during the recently concluded legislative assembly session. The query was made by MLC Madhu G Madegowda.
Among the 1,07,305 phone calls, 141 calls sought medical treatment, 852 calls were made for shelter, 223 for rehabilitation of children, 128 reported abuse, 1,526 were against harassment, 2,506 against assault and exploitation. The rest of the 1,01,729 calls from children were listed as other issues, and not categorized further.
These calls were made to the 1098 helpline, which used to be run by NGOs in the state before being taken under the Central government’s ambit through 112, the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS), in 2023.
Vasudev Sharma, former member of the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR), said the breakup of these numbers is very crucial to understand the measures the districts must take.
“It is imperative that the government reveals what actions have been taken against the crimes reported. How many FIRs were filed, how many individuals were arrested, how many cases are in court and what number of children were rehabilitated,” he questioned.
Sharma has worked closely with these distress calls and said that as per his experience, maximum cases would have been reported from metro cities, especially Bengaluru. He added that awareness is needed for districts not reporting enough calls.