Rajya Sabha MP Mahesh Poddar has stressed on the need to use the latest technology to search for missing children. At the same time, he has emphasized on the need for adequate arrangements to prevent the disappearance or kidnapping of children.
Taking this matter through an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Poddar sought information about the initiatives taken by the ministry to locate missing children in the country. According to the data provided by the government, Poddar said that despite all efforts, only half of the children who go missing, sometimes one-third of the children are safe, which is worrying.
Answering Poddar's question, Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Zubin Irani said that on the basis of data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau, in 2014, 726 children were missing from Jharkhand out of which 394 were safely recovered. 720 children went missing in 2015, of which 191 were safely returned.
In 2016, 1008 children were missing, of which 329 were found. In 2017, 1099 went missing from Jharkhand out of which 465 children returned. In 2018, 993 children were reported missing from Jharkhand, out of which 377 were safely returned.
Irani said that the Ministry of Women and Child Development is operating a web portal "TrackChild" to locate lost children.
The trackchild portal is implemented in collaboration with various stakeholders including Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Railways, State Governments, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards, National Legal Services Authority.
In 2015, another citizen-centric portal "Khoya-Paaya" has also been launched. It provides 24x7 outreach helpline service to disaster-hit children.
The service is available through a dedicated toll-free number 1098, which can be availed by children in distress or adults on their behalf.
As far as the use of latest technology is concerned, the Facial Recognition System used by Delhi Police with the help of NIC is being used to locate lost children. Soon this facility will be expanded to the whole country.
