Jeroo Billimoria
Ashoka Fellow since 1998   |   Netherlands

Jeroo Billimoria

One family foundation
Jeroo Billimoria launched Childline, the country's first attempt at making street children's quick access to supports, such as police assistance and health care, as easy as dialing a number.…
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Featured in How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas by David Bornstein (2007, Updated)

This description of Jeroo Billimoria's work was prepared when Jeroo Billimoria was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 1998.

Introduction

Jeroo Billimoria launched Childline, the country's first attempt at making street children's quick access to supports, such as police assistance and health care, as easy as dialing a number. Manned by street children themselves, Childline combines 24-hour emergency telephone services with follow-Read more

The New Idea

Since pay phones are as ubiquitous as working children in the streets of Indian cities, Jeroo Billimoria is bringing the two together in a program to provide ready communication and support linkages to the country's more than 48 million street children. Jeroo has demonstrated and refined the modelRead more

The Problem

The population of street children in India is the highest in the world. The urge for independence, emotional trauma, and economic destitution drive children away from home or take them to the streets to earn a living. Health-related problems such as sickness and injuries are everyday affairs forRead more

The Strategy

The idea of Childline took root in 1993 when Jeroo, then a professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, opened negotiations with the Juvenile Act Protection Unit of the police to use the Mumbai police control room for an emergency telephone service for the city's streetRead more

The Person

Jeroo was born in 1965 in Bombay into a family of chartered accountants. Her mother influenced Jeroo with strong values and prepared her for the profession she was to join later. A professor in the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), she provided Jeroo tough socialization skills and highRead more

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