Lok Sabha Question No. 3708 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-17
Subject: Missing Children
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Sudhakar Tukaram Shrangre, Pratima Bhoumik

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3708

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 17 TH  MARCH, 2020/ PHALGUNA 27, 1941 (SAKA)

MISSING CHILDREN

SHRI SUDHAKAR TUKARAM SHRANGARE:

3708. MS. PRATIMA BHOUMIK:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) the total number of children reported missing at present, State-wise;

(b) the number of children rescued and restored to their families during the last three years, year-wise;

(c) the reasons for poor performance in this regard; and

(d) the efforts made by the Government so far for restoration of all the missing children to their families?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)

(a)& (b): National  Crime  Records  Bureau  (NCRB)  compiles  and  publishes information on crimes in its publication 'Crime in India'. Published reports are available  till  the  year  2018.  The  State/Union  Territory  -wise  details  of  total number of children reported missing in the country during the year 2018 is at Annexure-I. Further, a total of 55,944 missing children were traced in the year 2016, a total of 70,440 missing children were traced in year 2017 and a total of 71,176 missing children were traced in year 2018.

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 3708 FOR 17.03.2020

(c) & (d): 'Police'  and  'Public  Order'  are  State  subjects  under  the  Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibilities to maintain law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens including investigation and prosecution of crime against children rest with the respective State Governments.  The  State  Governments  are  competent  to  deal  with  such offences under the extant provisions of laws.

However, the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued detailed advisory to the States and UTs, inter-alia emphasizing that in case of complaint with regard to any missing children made in a police station, the same should be reduced into a  First  Information  Report  and  appropriate steps should be taken to see that follow  up  investigation  is  taken  up  immediately  thereafter.  This  advisory  is available at www.mha.gov.in.

The Ministry of Women & Child Development in order to provide outreach services to the missing children or needy children, operates Child helpline No. 1098 which is operational 24x7. The Ministry of Women & Child Development also  supports  Railway  Childlines  on  major  Railway  Stations  for  providing assistance  to  any  needy  child.  Further,  the  Ministry  of  Women  &  Child Development  has  developed  a  national  tracking  system  for  missing  and vulnerable children i.e. TrackChild Portal  which  has  been implemented across

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 3708 FOR 17.03.2020

the  country.  The  URL  of  the  TrackChild  is  www.trackthemissingchild.gov.in. The  Ministry  of  Women  &  Child  Development  had  also  launched  Khoya-Paya platform  on  2 nd June,  2015  which  is  an  enabling  platform,  where  citizens  can report  missing  children  as  well  as  sightings  of  their  whereabouts.  Details  of children  who  have  been  found,  can  also  be  reported  on  this  platform.  KhoyaPaya has been integrated as a module under TrackChild. Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for tracing missing children has also been circulated to all the States and UTs for their further dissemination to all other stakeholders such as Police, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards  etc.  The  SOP  lays  down  uniform  guidelines  for  expediting  the  search and rehabilitation of missing children all over the country.

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## ANNEXURE-I L.S.US.Q.NO. 3708 FOR 17.03.2020

## State/Union Territory-wise total number of Missing Children (Below 18 years) during the year 2018

|            |                   | 2018    | 2018    |
|------------|-------------------|---------|---------|
| SL         | State/UT          | Missing | Missing |
| 1          | Andhra Pradesh    |         | 3150    |
| 2          | Arunachal Pradesh |         | 34      |
| 3          | Assam             |         | 2120    |
| 4          | Bihar             |         | 12072   |
| 5          | Chhattisgarh      |         | 4237    |
| 6          | Goa               |         | 47      |
| 7          | Gujarat           |         | 2417    |
| 8          | Haryana           |         | 3739    |
| 9          | Himachal Pradesh  |         | 481     |
| 10         | Jammu & Kashmir*  |         | 800     |
| 11         | Jharkhand         |         | 993     |
| 12         | Karnataka         |         | 2864    |
| 13         | Kerala            |         | 2153    |
| 14         | Madhya Pradesh    |         | 15320   |
| 15         | Maharashtra       |         | 6928    |
| 16         | Manipur           |         | 107     |
| 17         | Meghalaya         |         | 163     |
| 18         | Mizoram           |         | 3       |
| 19         | Nagaland          |         | 97      |
| 20         | Odisha            |         | 3491    |
| 21         | Punjab            |         | 2587    |
| 22         | Rajasthan         |         | 3521    |
| 23         | Sikkim            |         | 57      |
| 24         | Tamil Nadu        |         | 5333    |
| 25         | Telangana         |         | 4410    |
| 26         | Tripura           |         | 198     |
| 27         | Uttar Pradesh     |         | 5704    |
| 28         | Uttarakhand       |         | 938     |
| 29         | West Bengal       |         | 16027   |
| TOTAL      | STATE(S)          |         | 99991   |
| 30         | A&N Islands       |         | 56      |
| 31         | Chandigarh        |         | 540     |
| 32         | D&N Haveli**      |         | 4       |
| 33         | Daman & Diu**     |         | 30      |
| 34         | Delhi             |         | 14986   |
| 35         | Lakshadweep       |         | 0       |
| 36         | Puducherry        |         | 49      |
|            | TOTAL UT(S)       |         | 15665   |
| TOTAL (ALL | INDIA)            |         | 115656  |

Source: Crime in India

Note: Clarifications are pending from West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya & Sikkim for the year 2018

*Now UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Laddakh

** Now UTs of D&N Haveli and UT of Daman& Diu have merged as one UT