As a component of SARI/Equity's regional grant to Manav Seva Sansthan (MSS), Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, a toll free Helpline for women and children in trouble anywhere in India or Nepal has been established. The number "1600-180-1000" can be accessed from the most remote corners of those countries. The calls reach either an MSS partner organization closest to the calling point, or MSS headquarters in Gorakhpur or Kathmandu. As of date, 11 districts in India (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand) and five districts in Nepal are directly linked to the Helpline. If a call is made from any other district, the call reaches either Gorakhpur (India) or Kathmandu (Nepal). MSS urges organizations in remote areas of India and Nepal to link up with this Helpline, at no extra cost. This linkage can save lives or help to extricate women and girls from the net of traffickers before it is too late!

Since its inception, about four months ago, the Helpline has received on average 3,000 calls per month. The majority of the calls are either reports of incidences of violence, missing persons or enquiries about the functioning of the Helpline. Last month, a girl that went missing from Lucknow (India) was traced from a district in Nepal with the active cooperation of "linked organizations". In another instance, a mentally retarded girl lured by a trafficker from Lucknow was rescued from a railway station at a nearby town and the trafficker was arrested. Police played a major role in this rescue, once the incident was reported to them by the organization that had received the Helpline call.

To enhance the effectiveness of the functioning of the Helpline, MSS organized orientation sessions for more than 200 Public Call Booth owners operating in the border districts of Uttar Pradesh. A directive from the Telecom Department about the toll free nature of the Helpline with relevant instructions to Public Call Booth owners has also been widely circulated and a centralized management and monitoring system been put in place for "linked organizations" to track the number and nature of calls as well as follow-up action and results. Reports are collected and analyzed by MSS on monthly basis.