New Delhi: “Please hurry. I’m standing near Rajghat with a newborn. She can’t be more than two hours old. I don’t know who left her here, but I won’t leave until someone comes.”It was mid-May. The caller’s voice was calm, but every second mattered. Somewhere near Rajghat, a stranger was standing, holding an abandoned infant, waiting for help to arrive. The call reached a modest control room tucked away inside Delhi govt’s women and child development department. Within minutes, a responder had recorded the details, alerted the authorities and set the rescue process in motion.Nearly a month later, the infant is in foster care and is expected to be referred to foster parents soon.At least four telephones sit on the desks of the helpline room, each connected to a responder wearing a headset and facing a computer screen that flashes details of incoming calls.TOI spent time inside the control room, watching responders move seamlessly from one emergency to the next. The work inside the room has taken on added significance as concerns over crimes against children continue to grow. Delhi govt is also observing July as child safety month across more than 16,600 schools and institutions to spread awareness on child protection.Between April 2025 and March 2026, the child helpline received 9,83,145 calls. After verification, 7,388 cases were registered for intervention, a 15.3% increase from the 6,525 cases registered in 2024-25. Compared with 2023-24, when 2,785 cases were registered, the number has more than doubled.Every ring carries the possibility of a child in danger. For instance, one was from a distraught father in north Delhi. He told the responder he had rushed out to check on his daughter after hearing her scream. The girl had gone to a neighbour’s house, where he had allegedly shown her inappropriate videos on his phone.Soon after came another call from Rani and Rajeev (names changed), two college students who had recently become parents. “We are not ready to get married or raise a child,” they told the responder. “We want to surrender the baby so someone else can give the child a better life.”Then a teenager called seeking help for herself.“Ma’am, I am 16 years old. I was dating a 22-year-old boy. He wanted to become intimate but I did not. He kept insisting and later took my photographs. Now he is threatening to circulate them if I leave him.”“What would you like us to do?” the responder asked gently.“Please make him delete the photos,” the girl replied. “But don’t let my parents know.”These were only a few of the calls the helpline handled. Overall, child abuse accounted for the largest share of verified cases (1,974), followed by missing children (883), family issues (735) and counselling (715) in 2024-2025. North Delhi topped the districts with 882 cases, while 3,280 cases have already been registered since April this year.“The women and child development department has built a robust child protection system through institutions such as the child welfare committees, juvenile justice boards, district child protection units and the 24×7 helpline (1098). Together, they ensure timely rescue, care, protection, rehabilitation and support for children in need, while strengthening the city’s overall child protection framework,” WCD secretary Rashmi Singh said.Every call follows a defined response mechanism. However, a key challenge remains. A significant share of the calls are either wrong numbers or accidental calls. Many callers also mistake the helpline for other govt services.A source said: “Our job is to pick up every call. Even if it turns out to be a wrong number, we still have to answer it.”Several categories of vulnerable children, including school dropouts, children living on the streets and those facing cyber-related issues, remain underreported on the helpline.Indu Prakash Singh, member of the state-level shelter monitoring committee, said: “At one point, the child helpline number at 1098 was very active. Then it was put under the women and child development department, after that the Integrated child protection scheme and then the district child protection unit (DCPU). When we once encountered children on the streets, we called 1098 wherever it was. But DCPU isn’t as active now. Callers are usually directed to call the 100 police emergency number or to take the child to the police station. The helpline was meant for intervention independent of the cops.”“Efforts are under way to strengthen outreach and bring such children within the child protection system. Guidelines for a dedicated mechanism to identify and support street children are also expected to be issued soon,” a govt source said.
