Railway Protection Force (RPF) rescued 477 runaway children from railway platforms at stations on Central Railway across Maharashtra over the past seven months and reunited them with their parents.

As per information shared by Central Railways, those rescued include 310 boys and 167 girls and were reunited with their guardians with the help of non-governmental organisations like Childline. "Most of these children came to the railway stations without informing their families due to some fight or some family issues or in search of better life or glamour. They were found loitering on the platforms or near the railway stations by trained RPF personnel or sometimes in trains also. Many of the parents express their deep gratitude and thankfulness for this noble service of the Railways," read the statement.

These children were rescued over the period of January to July 2021 from Mumbai, Bhusawal, Nagpur, Pune and Solapur divisions of Central Railways. Central Railways shared an incident where a 17 year-old-girl of Patna, who had run away from her home to make a career in modelling and acting in Mumbai without informing anyone, was rescued. In another incident, a 14 year-old-girl, who ran away from her home in Telangana after being scolded by her mother, was rescued.

General Manager Anil Kumar Lahoti said that the Railways play its role of social responsibility by connecting with the runaway children, understanding their problems and counselling them to go with their family. He also appreciated the RPF and frontline staff who play an important role by identifying such cases with their innate sense and taking immediate action as a counsellor.