Our work in India...
India is the seventh largest and second most populated country in the world with an estimated 1.1 billion people. According to the 2001 census, 78 million people are homeless in India and the country has the largest number of street children in the world.
UNICEF’s estimate of 11 million street children in India is considered to be a conservative figure. The Indian Embassy has estimated that there are 314,700 street children in metros such as Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Kanpur, Bangalore and Hyderabad and around 100,000 in Delhi alone.
India has the second largest rail network in the world. Children who run away from their homes both willingly and unwillingly use the railways to travel to other destinations. The train therefore becomes the primary mode of transportation and the railway junctions become home.
Street children move between cities in trains frequently landing at major junctions. Their high mobility makes it essential to work with a multitude of voluntary organisations across states in order to have continued contact with the children and provide support.
It is for these very reasons that Railway Children set up its first project in India in 1996. Railway Children in India addresses the complexity of these problems by primarily collaborating with local voluntary organisations.
