Child Helpline (1098)

What is Child Helpline 1098?

Child Helpline 1098 is the national emergency telephone service for children in distress in India, run by the Ministry of Women and Child Development as a component of Mission Vatsalya, the Ministry's child protection scheme. Dialling 1098 is free, works 24 hours a day, and requires nothing from the caller; no registration, no document, no identity.

Child Helpline 1098 has been restructured. Instead of being run by a single national NGO network, it is now operated by state and district government machinery under Mission Vatsalya and integrated with the Ministry of Home Affairs' Emergency Response Support System, ERSS-112. According to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, all 36 states and union territories have started implementation, and the service is 100% funded by the Government of India.

How the system is structured

• A 24x7 Women and Child Development Control Room (WCD-CR) in every state and union territory receives all 1098 calls.
• A Child Helpline Unit at each District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) runs round the clock with staff, facilities and software for field response.
• Emergency calls are forwarded to ERSS-112 of the Ministry of Home Affairs for police response.
• The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) handles automation of 1098 and its integration with 112.
• Standard Operating Procedures were circulated to all states and union territories in March 2022.

Who is eligible to use Child Helpline 1098?

Anyone can call 1098. The helpline exists for every person below 18 years of age, and any adult who knows of such a child:

• Children who are lost, abandoned, homeless or runaway.
• Children facing abuse, violence, neglect or exploitation at home, at work or in an institution.
• Children in child labour, or victims of trafficking.
• Children at risk of child marriage to 1098 is one of the numbers listed on the Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat portal.
• Children needing medical or emotional emergency support.
• Children out of school or needing sponsorship, foster care or institutional care.

What 1098 is not:

• 1098 is not a cash benefit scheme, there is no money to claim and no beneficiary registration. Anyone offering to enrol you for a "1098 benefit" is not acting for the government.
• Adults are not eligible as the person in distress. An adult woman needing help should call the women helpline 181 or approach a One Stop Centre; any person facing an immediate crime should call 112.
• 1098 is not a substitute for an FIR. Where a cognisable offence has been committed, the case must reach the police, which is why emergency calls are routed to ERSS-112.

What information helps when you call?

How to apply for help from Child Helpline 1098

There is no form and no application. The process is a phone call.

1. Dial 1098 from any phone. The call is free and connects to your state's Women and Child Development Control Room, which operates 24 hours a day.
2. State where the child is, village or locality, landmark, block and district. Location is the single most important detail.
3. Describe the situation briefly: missing, abused, in labour, in danger of marriage, ill, or homeless. You do not need proof to make a report.
4. Stay reachable if you can. Give a contact number so the district Child Helpline Unit can call back, though you may remain anonymous.
5. Call 112 as well if there is immediate danger to the child. Emergency calls made to 1098 are in any case forwarded to ERSS-112 for police response.
6. Follow up with the District Child Protection Unit if you are a relative or a concerned adult and want to know the outcome.

What happens after the call

The district Child Helpline Unit records the case and decides the response. For a child needing rescue or immediate care, a team is sent out, with police support through ERSS-112 where required. The child is then produced before the Child Welfare Committee of the district, the statutory body under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 that decides on the child's care and protection.

Depending on the case, the outcome may be restoration to the family, placement in foster care or a children's home, sponsorship, medical treatment, or linkage to education. Mission Vatsalya funds this chain of institutional care, which is why the helpline sits inside that scheme rather than standing alone.

Child Helpline 1098 and Mission Vatsalya

Child Helpline 1098 is best understood as the front door to Mission Vatsalya. Mission Vatsalya funds District Child Protection Units, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards, children's homes, foster care and sponsorship, and the helpline is how a child or a bystander reaches all of it. For the wider scheme — including sponsorship and foster care rates and the institutional structure; read the Mission Vatsalya guide on this site.

Other numbers worth saving

• 1098; Child Helpline.
• 112; Emergency Response Support System, police, fire and ambulance.
• 181: Women Helpline.
• 15100; NALSA legal services helpline.
• 1930; National cyber crime reporting helpline, for online abuse of children.

Calling 1098 is free, no document is needed, and no official or NGO worker may charge a child or a caller for any help provided through the helpline.