Phone Tree comes to rescue of the needy

Chandigarh, May 24

The Child Welfare Committee, Chandigarh, has been working to protect children during the Covid-19 outbreak.

“Financial shocks and instability is a major cause of child labour, marriage and trafficking. As Chandigarh has 20 per cent population of internal migrants, we started a programme called ‘Phone Tree’ to find kids facing shortage of food due to loss of livelihood in family,” said Sangita Vardhan, Chairperson, Child Welfare Committee.

She said, “The concept is based on two goals, directly helping the needy kids by providing dry ration and mobilising community spirit transmission of fellow feeling to counter fearful transmission power.”

During these testing times, the committee planned to gather intelligence on child abuse via chain-calling system where each volunteer contributes. “It starts with a volunteer seeding his/her own phone tree by calling five people who may be in need. Every person gives more names of people who need assistance or becomes a donor volunteer and motivate more people to donate dry ration. We have been able to reach 400 children and over 200 families. We have found small children, pregnant women, children living alone because parents have been stranded in villages. We also found a child in a serious medical condition,” she said.

The feedback from each phone group is sent to the District Child Protection Society. Through ‘Phone Tree’ Maloya residents requested that rent for EWS flats should not be charged.

“We are forwarding the same to the Social Welfare Department. ‘Phone Tree’ is working in Dhanas flats, Dhanas Milk Colony, Kaimwala, Daria, Maloya village and Maloya EWS flats,” she said.

During these testing times, the committee has received four cases of sexual abuse/assault, a case related to infanticide and four runaways, informed Vardhan. — TNS