‘1098’ is not a Helpline to pick up the food leftovers, but a Helpline service for the Street Children in distress

A WhatsApp message is being shared widely saying that PM Modi has announced a Helpline service- ‘1098’ that picks up the leftover food from functions, parties, homes etc., and feeds the hungry children. Let’s try to analyze the claims made in this WhatsApp forward message.

The message that ‘Helpline-1098’ is meant to pick up food leftovers from functions, parties, homes etc., and are used in feeding the hungry children is doing rounds since the past many years and is again being shared on Facebook.

Claim: PM Modi announced a Tele-helpline service ‘1098’ for picking up food leftovers from functions and parties.

Fact: Helpline service ‘1098’ is a free Tele-helpline launched by CHILDLINE India Foundation(CIF) in 1996 to rescue the street children in distress. Hence the claims made in the message stand FALSE.

The message that ‘Helpline-1098’ is meant to pick up food leftovers from functions, parties, homes etc., and are used in feeding the hungry children is doing rounds since the past many years. But actually, it is a free Tele-helpline launched by CHILDLINE India Foundation(CIF) in 1996 to rescue the street children in distress. Given the extent of spread of this fake message, the CIF has put a notice on its website “childlineindia.org.in” clarifying the public that its helpline is only meant to protect and take care of the street children in distress and have nothing to do with the collection of food leftovers. In the notice, it was mentioned as “chain mail circulating”, perhaps because this news might have been in circulation much before the entry of WhatsApp messaging application into India.

To sum it up, ‘1098’ is not a Helpline to pick up the food leftovers, but a Helpline service for the street children in distress.

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