Dum Dum's Harichand Pally gets Community Child Welfare Centre

Kolkata: International Justice Mission (IJM) and Asian Sahyogi Sanstha India (ASSI) inaugurated a Community Child Welfare Centre (CCWC) at Harichand Pally in Dum Dum on Wednesday.

The aim of the centre will be to educate and empower the local community to protect children by rooting out crimes in the neighbourhood.

CCWC is an initiative of the local community to create a safe space for children in their community. This centre will consist of community members who will raise awareness on trafficking, violence and exploitation of children. This centre will further aim to be a bridge between the local community and law enforcement agencies.

"Community members will be equipped to raise their voice against grave crimes like trafficking. We hope that this justice aspiring model can be replicated across India," said Pradip Mondal, Area Director, ASSI.

The centre will focus on supporting local Anti-Human Trafficking Clubs (AHTC) and report trafficking cases. This will strengthen the operations of Anti-Human Trafficking Units as per the initiative of West Bengal State Action Plan.

Exerting on the need for reporting crimes, Ananya Chakraborthy, Chairperson, West Bengal Commission for the Protection of Child Rights said: "Community members should confidently report crimes against children to local police and use the childline help number 1098. Increased reporting will stop criminals from exploiting children."

The Safe Community will work further towards ensuring reporting of crimes against children. As part of the initiative, local businessmen will be sensitised on employment standards and the legal repercussions of employing children.

"Through the CCWC initiative, we will introduce awareness and training programmes. Vulnerable societies and communities will progress when crime is identified and rooted out," said Sisir Thanikal, IJM's Director of Partnerships in Kolkata.

The centre was inaugurated by Ananya Chakraborthy, Chairperson, West Bengal State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights; Saji Philip, Director of Operations, International Justice Mission, Pradip Mondal, Director, ASSI, Suchita Paul, Professor in Charge, Social Work Department, St. Xavier's College and Sampa Chakraborthy, Councilor, Ward 17.