There are several reasons children run away from home. Some do so because of an unstable family situation (divorce, a death in the family, sexual or physical abuse, or drug or alcohol problems in the parents). Some seek to wield power over, get undue attention from, manipulate, or punish their parents.
New Delhi Railway station has the highest inflow of children in comparison to other major railway stations in India. It is estimated that approximately 30-35 children arrive everyday at the New Delhi railway station and the majority of children are from North Bihar.
Since Sai Milan started working for these types of children, its Railway Platform Project came into existence from 1st March 2011. Sai Milan has appointed 2 social workers at the New Delhi and Old Delhi Railway Station who identify such children and support & protect them. If these children continue to stay for 12-24 hours on the platform and early intervention is not provided, they are most likely to become rag pickers and start consuming drugs, smoke and chew gutka. Even due to the atmosphere at the platform, they may reach the wrong hands where they are forced to initially do small thefts and thereafter they gradually become criminals.
Sai Milan supports such children by counselling and motivating them to go back to their homes or hand them over to the short term shelter-homes. While counselling, we give them food and also make them take bath and provide neat clothes and then handover these children to child welfare committee. Till date we have supported 9 children and 4 of these children are reunited back to their families.
