KOCHI: Last week, the Chiri helpline received a desperate call for assistance from the parents of a Class 10 boy at Thammanam who had locked himself up in his room. He refused to come out and was very depressed. On receiving the call, the additional nodal officer of Student Police Cadet, Ernakulam rural, rushed to the place and with the help of the cops, broke down the door to rescue the boy. He was then treated by the counsellors and psychologists associated with the project.
In yet another incident, Chiri came to the help of Abel Peter of Ramamangalam in Ernakulam, who was finding it tough to attend the online classes due to lack of a smartphone. Since the start of the classes this year, his mother was the one who acted as his teacher. She used to call up Abel’s teachers, jot down the notes and then teach him. It was then that he received the poster of the Chiri project via his school group. He didn’t think twice before calling up the number provided on the poster and lo behold! his wish for a smartphone of his own came true. The incidents are many and the calls are all different. However, Chiri, a project launched by the Kerala police in association with the Student Police Cadet, is bringing smiles to children’s faces all over the state. To date, the helpline has received over 15,500 calls.
“The calls keep coming in daily. Chiri was launched soon after the first lockdown period in 2020, which saw a lot of children, nearly 66, committing suicide due to mental health problems and other issues,” said Shabu P S, assistant nodal officer, SPC, Ernakulam Rural. Lockdown forced the children to stay indoors and they were unable to meet their friends or do the things that usually would have released a lot of pent-up energy, he said.
“All of this led to a deterioration of the children’s mental health, besides increasing the dependence on online games and other activities. The suicides were a desperate call for help and the state government decided to come up with the project, which is headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram, with Inspector-General P Vijayan as the state nodal officer,” said Shabu.
According to him, the helpline number 9497900200 is not just a lifeline for the children. “Parents and teachers too are calling up seeking a solution to the problems being faced by children,” he added. “Most of the calls are about difficulties kids face during online classes, their grief over not being able to meet their friends or play with them, family disputes and lack of gadgets to help them with their classes,” said Shabu. Anoob John, community police officer, SPC, said, “Most of the calls that we receive from parents are about their kids’ addiction to mobile phones or tablets.” According to him, some parents have also called up seeking help for the kids showing serious psychological issues.
“Every call is dealt with as per the need. Simple issues are solved by the SPC cadets who have been trained for the project, while complicated ones like those related to mental health are dealt with by professionals like psychologists, psychiatrists and certified counsellors. Over 300 students from SPC and Our Responsibility To Children project have been hand-picked for this initiative,” said Anoob. The initiative is coordinated by the police chiefs of each district, additional SPs and the DySPs in charge of the SPC.
WHY ‘CHIRI’?
“Chiri was launched soon after the first lockdown period in 2020, which saw a lot of children, nearly 66, ending their lives due to many issues,” said Shabu P S, assistant nodal officer, SPC, Ernakulam Rural, adding helpline number 9497900200 is not just a lifeline for the children. Parents and teachers too call us up, he said.