17th Annual ReportAnnual Report (Anuual (SocietySociety For for AssistanceAssistence To T o Children CReporthildren In in Difficult Dificult SSituationituation ) SATHI 2015-162015-16 SATHI A‘‘A child child on on platfrom platform never never grows grows up up... he1 just he justages..... ages” 17th Annual Report SATHI Working with 16 Railway platform SATHI Working with 20 Govt Children Home New Delhi Old Delhi Lucknow Gorakpur Kanpur Allahabad Guwahati Patna Mughalsarai Varanasi Kolkata Raipur Mumbai & Bhubaneshwar Thane Pune Berhampur Hyderabad Vishakapatanam Vijayawada Bangalore 2 17th Annual Report SATHI 17th Annual Report 3 17th Annual Report SATHI 4 17th Annual Report CONTENTS 1. Founder’s note – A dream is coming true… 1 2. SATHI – Vision & Objectives 2 3. The year in a nutshell 3 4. Reaching out to children on Railway Platforms 4 SATHI 5. Shelter Care 12 6. Counselling, Address tracing & Restorations 16 7. Engaging with Govt. Children Homes 21 8. Home Orientation Camps 31 9. Reunion Events – Moments of Joy & Tears 40 10. Follow-up and Post Home Placement Support 42 12. Documentation Practices 45 13. Studies and Analyses 48 14. Advocacy & Networking – Efforts & Events 55 15. Collaborations 60 16. SATHI in Media 62 17. Governance and Administration 64 18. Funding Partners 69 19. Looking Ahead – Outlook for 2016-17 71 1 17th Annual Report 1. FOUNDER’S NOTE – A DREAM IS COMING TRUE… I have great happiness and pride to share with you all that the year 2015-16 has been an extremely positive year for the kind of children that we have been working for. The issue of children who have left home for various reasons and landed on railway platforms across India is a large and complex one. Fortunately, there are simple and SATHI replicable solutions to address some of their key issues. What is notable and positive about the year gone by is that the issue has caught the attention of the government departments and people who matter. Even a few years ago, having a mechanism to help children who arrive on all major railway platforms across India was a dream. With the initiatives of the Ministries of Women and Child Development and Railways, that dream is close to becoming a reality. The government has taken the first step and started Railway Childline in 20 locations across India, and this number is set to increase. It is indeed a huge blessing for children arriving on railway platforms. A large number of them will stand to benefit and reunite with their families soon. The Ministries, Departments, Childline India Foundation and the numerous partner NGOs deserve full credit for their work. SATHI would continue to engage with them and contribute with its efforts and experience. One of the prominent highlights of the year was receiving the National Award for Child Welfare from the Honourable President of India. The award is a tribute to more hundreds of people who have been part of SATHI and partnered with the organization over the years. Without their hard work in the field and the support of multiple organizations and excellent individuals within and outside the government system, it would not have been possible to help such a large number of children, and make the organization worthy of the award. It has also been a year since I have withdrawn from formal positions within the organization or on its Board and have been playing the role of an advisor. This has provided me opportunities to engage with the team on qualitative issues and their capacity building, on individual cases and conceptualizing studies on pertinent questions that the organization can take up. In the coming year, we will use the huge and current data base of thousands of children to generate evidences to answer such questions. I look forward to a promising year ahead in this regard. I thank one and all for all the support we have received. With best wishes Pramod Kulkarni Founder, SATHI Bangalore | 31.05.2016 1 17th Annual Report 2. SATHI – VISION & OBJECTIVES Vision A safe, secure and nurturing environment for lost, runaway and separated children to grow holisti- cally with self-confidence, self-worth and dignity. Objectives SATHI . To rescue, protect and assist runaway or separated children from railway platforms and restore them in a safe and secure environment conducive to their growth, preferably with their families in a timely manner so as to minimize their exposure to risks including abuse, violence, addictions, crime and the vagaries of street life; . To explore the possibilities of a qualitatively better environment, free from abuse for children staying in government and non-government institutions within their families and rehabilitate them accordingly; . To offer psychological and emotional support to children who are victims of substance abuse, habituated to running away from home or are displaying deviant behaviour and explore avenues for mainstreaming with society; . To work with the State & Civil Society and advocate towards enabling an effective child protection system in India that is responsive and sympathetic to the interests of the child; . To build knowledge and evidences regarding issues of missing or runaway children including reasons, risks, rehabilitation measures and related qualitative aspects to evolve good practices in the domain of child protection. 2 17th Annual Report 3. THE YEAR IN A NUTSHELL 6220 Children rescued from 14 railway stations 3932 Rescued children reunited with families 606 Children staying in 20 Govt. homes reunited with parents 257 Children participated in 10 home-orientation camps SATHI 4694 Total number of children reunited with families 11 New locations where SATHI started work including 3 new states – Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Chhattisgarh 98% Increase in the organization budget in comparison to previous financial year National Award for Child Welfare SATHI was conferred the National Award for Child Welfare 2014 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Govt. of India. The award was received by Mr. Pramod Kulkarni from the Honourable President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee on 14th November 2015. The award is a proud milestone for the organization, which has maintained a singular focus for over two decades through which we have had the opportunity of reaching out to more than 50,000 children. However, the achievements of SATHI could not have materialized without the support of innumerable supporters and contributors which includes over 300 field staff, donors, partner NGOs, officials in the Ministry / Department of Railways as well as Women and Child Development, Honourable Judges and many individuals who have guided the organization in the past and continue to do so. We look at this moment as an opportunity to thank everybody who has supported us and feel that we now have an added responsibility to continue contributing to the sector. There is more work to do before every child can safely go back to a home. Thank you. 3 17th Annual Report 4. REACHING OUT TO CHILDREN ON RAILWAY PLATFORMS Brothers rescued from trafficking trap of ‘fake saint’ When two children accompanied by a ‘saint’ were spotted by SATHI staff at Kanpur railway station, they suspected that this was a case of trafficking. They immediately contacted the boys and learned that the children were being taken to Agra by the ‘saint’ for the purpose of begging. SATHI The two children, Mandeep (9) and Vikram (11) (names changed) were brothers hailing from Farukhkhabad, U.P. According to the children, their parents worked as labourers and neither of them was enrolled in school. They left home one day and came to Farukhkhabad station, where they started begging for their bread. After four to five days, a man dressed up as a saint met them and allured them towards seeing the city. Accompanying him, the boys reached Kanpur railway station. With the help of GRP, the three of them were brought to Railway Police station. The suspected trafficker was taken into police custody, while the boys were sent to SATHI shelter for care and protection. The children were sent to the Govt. Home for Boys the next day on the advice of Child Welfare Committee. SATHI staff continued interacting with the children and the boys’ parents were traced. The children were handed over to their father on 10th August’15. When a follow up was done, we came to know that both children are studying and staying at home. GRP’s initiative was important in this rescue operation. The incident even received local media coverage. Through a recent follow up, we came to know that presently both the children are studying. Highlights of 2015-16 In 2015-16, SATHI in collaboration with NGOs having similar objectives rescued more than 6000 children from 16 railway stations in 9 states across India. Sl. No Location Total children rescued Collaboration NGOs Andhra Pradesh Vishakhapatnam 153 - Vijayawada 231 SKCV Children’s Trust Bihar Patna 254 - Delhi New Delhi Salaam Baalak Trust, 1664 Prayas (Childline) Old Delhi Karnataka Yeshwanthpur 569 - Maharashtra Pune 407 - Odisha Berhampur 202 SOCH (Society for Bhubaneswar Children) 468 Telangana Hyderabad 107 Asritha 4 17th Annual Report Uttar Pradesh Kanpur 348 Mughalsarai 720 Varanasi 369 - Gorakhpur 117 Allahabad 58 West Bengal Kolkata 495 CINI (Child in Need SATHI Institute) Total 6144* *This figure includes children helped by SATHI, NGOs working in collaboration with us as well as GRP, RPF and others. The number of children helped by GRP and RPF staff constitutes 3% of the total children referred to SATHI. About 2% of the children helped includes children referred by others such as auto / taxi drivers, porters, vendors, general public, etc. (Details given in Annexure # 1) Break-up: Rescue of children Children helped by GRP / RPF staff Ashwini, a 10-year-old boy, was found by GRP at Mughalsarai railway platform.