CHILDLINE 1098 SERVICE

The calls would come late in the night.

"Didi, can you come? There's been a fight at the station."

"Didi, can you help? The police have battered Raju."

And a CHILDLINE volunteer would get up and rush out to where a street child was waiting. On one of those dashes across the sleeping city of Mumbai , an idea was born.

What street children in Mumbai needed was a helpline, their own
helpline.

In 1996, Mumbai launched CHILDLINE, the country's first toll-free tele-helpline for street children in distress. It has responded to over 11 million calls from children who live and work in Mumbai , and has grown into a national child protection service that operates in 81 cities. In 11 years, CHILDLINE has worked with over 3 million children in need of care and protection.