Lok Sabha Question No. 1388 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-20
Subject: Missing Children
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Virendra  Kumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1388

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 20 TH  SEPTEMBER, 2020/BHADRAPADA 29, 1942 (SAKA) MISSING CHILDREN

1388. DR. VIRENDRA KUMAR:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) the data regarding the currently missing children in the country;
- (b) the number of cases registered at police stations for missing children during the last three years, State-wise;
- (c)  the  number of children handed over to their parents after tracing them and the number of cases undertrial in this regard, State-wise; and
- (d)  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  trace  out  the  remaining  missing children?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c): National  Crime  Records  Bureau  (NCRB)  compiles  and  publishes information  on  crime  in  its  publication  'Crime  in  India'.  Published  reports  are available  till  the  year  2018.  As  per  the  published  information,  State/Union Territory-wise details of missing children at beginning of the year, missing during the  year,  total  children  missing,  children  traced  during  the  year  and  children remained untraced during the year 2016-2018 are at annexure.

(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

## LS.US.Q.NO.1388 FOR 20.09.2020

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 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.  Khoya-Paya  has been integrated as a module under TrackChild.

## LS.US.Q.NO.1388 FOR 20.09.2020

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.

*****

## untraced during the year 2016-2018

|                   |                   | 2016                                            | 2016              | 2016                   | 2016   | 2016                       | 2017                                            | 2017                   | 2017                            | 2017                       | 2018                             | 2018                    | 2018                   | 2018                            | 2018                       |
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|--------|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|------------------------|---------------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------------|-------------------------|------------------------|---------------------------------|----------------------------|
| SL                | State/UT          | Missing At Beginning of the Year Missing During | Total Children    | Children Traced during |        | Children Remained Untraced | Missing At Beginning of the Year Missing During | Total Children Missing | Children Traced during the year | Children Remained Untraced | Missing At Beginning of the Year | Missing During the Year | Total Children Missing | Children Traced during the year | Children Remained Untraced |
| 1                 | Andhra Pradesh    | the Year 1169                                   | Missing 2155 3324 | the year 1912          | 1412   | 1412                       | the Year 2204                                   | 3616                   | 2902                            | 714                        | 714                              | 2436                    | 3150                   | 2610                            | 540                        |
| 2                 | Arunachal Pradesh | 23 38                                           | 61                | 33                     | 28     | 33                         | 41                                              | 74                     | 48                              | 26                         | 26                               | 8                       | 34                     | 32                              | 2                          |
| 3                 | Assam             | 1032                                            | 1381 2413         | 1069                   | 1344   | 489                        | 1162                                            | 1651                   | 1170                            | 481                        | 481                              | 1639                    | 2120                   | 1461                            | 659                        |
| 4                 | Bihar             | 1079                                            | 4817 5896         | 3026                   | 2870   | 2946                       | 5547                                            | 8493                   | 3271                            | 5222                       | 5122                             | 6950                    | 12072                  | 6967                            | 5105                       |
| 5                 | Chhattisgarh      | 865                                             | 2262 3127         | 2051                   | 1076   | 1072                       | 2269                                            | 3341                   | 2267                            | 1074                       | 1163                             | 3074                    | 4237                   | 2920                            | 1317                       |
| 6 Goa             |                   | 31 26                                           | 57                | 25                     | 32     | 32                         | 13                                              | 45                     | 14                              | 31                         | 31                               | 16                      | 47                     | 16                              | 31                         |
| 7                 | Gujarat           | 692                                             | 1315 2007         | 1247                   | 760    | 760                        | 1412                                            | 2172                   | 1653                            | 519                        | 519                              | 1898                    | 2417                   | 1873                            | 544                        |
| 8                 | Haryana           | 1807                                            | 1768 3575         | 1695                   | 1880   | 1880                       | 1934                                            | 3814                   | 2217                            | 1597                       | 1597                             | 2142                    | 3739                   | 2576                            | 1163                       |
| 9                 | Himachal Pradesh  | 110 170                                         | 280               | 174                    | 106    | 106                        | 262                                             | 368                    | 271                             | 97                         | 97                               | 384                     | 481                    | 340                             | 141                        |
| 10 Jammu          | & Kashmir*        | 766 304                                         | 1070              | 354                    | 716    | 614                        | 111                                             | 725                    | 219                             | 506                        | 506                              | 294                     | 800                    | 416                             | 384                        |
| 11 Jharkhand      |                   | 529 479                                         | 1008              | 329                    | 679    | 679                        | 420                                             | 1099                   | 465                             | 634                        | 634                              | 359                     | 993                    | 377                             | 616                        |
| 12                | Karnataka         | 2281                                            | 1943 4224         | 2733                   | 1491   | 1491                       | 1704                                            | 3195                   | 1954                            | 1241                       | 1241                             | 1623                    | 2864                   | 2314                            | 550                        |
| 13 Kerala         |                   | 211                                             | 1524 1735         | 1520                   | 215    | 187                        | 1568                                            | 1755                   | 1595                            | 160                        | 162                              | 1991                    | 2153                   | 2002                            | 151                        |
| 14 Madhya         | Pradesh           | 3565                                            | 8503 12068        | 8197                   | 3871   | 4048                       | 10110                                           | 14158                  | 8834                            | 5324                       | 5282                             | 10038                   | 15320                  | 9284                            | 6036                       |
| 15                | Maharashtra       | 5594                                            | 4388 9982         | 4357                   | 5625   | 5625                       | 2956                                            | 8581                   | 3364                            | 5217                       | 5217                             | 1711                    | 6928                   | 3214                            | 3714                       |
| 16 Manipur        |                   | 40 146                                          | 186               | 172                    | 14     | 14                         | 83                                              | 97                     | 75                              | 22                         | 22                               | 85                      | 107                    | 82                              | 25                         |
| 17 Meghalaya      |                   | 60 124                                          | 184               | 155                    | 29     | 29                         | 119                                             | 148                    | 103                             | 45                         | 45                               | 118                     | 163                    | 119                             | 44                         |
| 18 Mizoram        |                   | 0                                               | 0 0               | 0                      | 0      | 0                          | 1                                               | 1                      | 1                               | 0                          | 0                                | 3                       | 3                      | 3                               | 0                          |
| 19                | Nagaland          | 6 71                                            | 77                | 63                     | 14     | 14                         | 89                                              | 103                    | 101                             | 2                          | 2                                | 95                      | 97                     | 81                              | 16                         |
| 20 Odisha         |                   | 3890                                            | 5791              | 589                    | 5202   | 5202                       | 2244                                            | 7446                   | 6281                            | 1165                       | 1165                             | 2326                    | 3491                   | 1139                            | 2352                       |
| 21 Punjab         |                   | 693 597                                         | 1901 1290         | 510                    | 780    | 1966                       | 758                                             | 2724                   | 872                             | 1852                       | 1852                             | 735                     | 2587                   | 638                             | 1949                       |
| 22 Rajasthan      |                   | 2223                                            | 1980 4203         | 3216                   | 987    | 987                        | 2416                                            | 3403                   | 2453                            | 950                        | 950                              | 2571                    | 3521                   | 2479                            | 1042                       |
| 23 Sikkim         | 41                | 109                                             | 150               | 110                    | 40     | 40                         | 48                                              | 88                     | 85                              | 3                          | 3                                | 54                      | 57                     | 52                              | 5                          |
| 24 Tamil          | Nadu              | 4632                                            | 5801              | 4660                   | 1141   | 1648                       | 4196                                            | 5844                   | 4782                            | 1062                       | 1062                             | 4271                    | 5333                   | 4038                            | 1295                       |
| 25 Telangana      | 1021              | 1169                                            | 3679 4700         | 3597                   | 1103   | 1286                       | 3018                                            | 4304                   | 2984                            | 1320                       | 1320                             | 3090                    | 4410                   | 3152                            | 1258                       |
| 26 Tripura        |                   | 28 169                                          | 197               | 171                    | 26     | 26                         | 140                                             | 166                    | 150                             | 16                         | 16                               | 182                     | 198                    | 188                             | 10                         |
| 27 Uttar Pradesh  | 2266              | 2903                                            | 5169              | 1861                   | 3308   | 2202                       | 2959                                            | 5161                   | 2763                            | 2398                       | 2398                             | 3306                    | 5704                   | 2799                            | 2905                       |
| 28 Uttarakhand    | 424               | 435                                             | 859               | 589                    | 270    | 270                        | 607                                             | 877                    | 572                             | 305                        | 305                              | 633                     | 938                    | 374                             | 564                        |
| 29 West           | Bengal            | 8546 8335                                       | 16881             | 5388                   | 11493  | 11493                      | 8178                                            | 19671                  | 11849                           | 7822                       | 7822                             | 8205                    | 16027                  | 10205                           | 5822                       |
| TOTAL STATE(S)    |                   | 40161                                           | 96315             | 49803                  | 46512  | 46551                      | 56569                                           | 103120                 | 63315                           | 39805                      | 39754                            | 60237                   | 99991                  | 61751                           | 38240                      |
| 30 A&N            | Islands           | 56154 47                                        | 53                | 48                     | 5      | 5                          | 38                                              | 43                     | 35                              | 8                          | 8                                | 48                      | 56                     | 44                              | 12                         |
| 31 Chandigarh     |                   | 6 234 201                                       | 435               | 152                    | 283    | 283                        | 230                                             | 513                    | 207                             | 306                        | 306                              | 234                     | 540                    | 214                             | 326                        |
| 32 D&N Haveli**   |                   | 6                                               | 2 8               | 2                      | 6      | 6                          | 2                                               | 8                      | 4                               | 4                          | 4                                | 0                       | 4                      | 0                               | 4 13                       |
| 33 Daman 34 Delhi | &Diu**            | 10 29                                           | 39 6921           | 27                     | 12     | 12                         | 22 6454                                         | 34 15252               | 29                              | 5                          | 5 8445                           | 25 6541                 | 30 14986               | 17 9102                         | 5884                       |
| 35 Lakshadweep    |                   | 7740                                            | 14661 0           | 5863                   | 8798   | 8798                       |                                                 | 0                      | 6807 0                          | 8445                       | 0                                | 0                       | 0                      | 0                               | 0                          |
|                   |                   | 0                                               | 0                 | 0                      | 0      | 0                          | 0                                               |                        |                                 | 0                          |                                  |                         |                        | 48                              |                            |
| 36 Puducherry     |                   | 5 53                                            | 58                | 49                     | 9      | 9                          | 34                                              | 43                     | 43                              | 0                          | 0                                | 49                      | 49                     | 9425                            | 1                          |
| TOTAL (ALL        | TOTAL UT(S)       | 8001                                            | 7253 15254        | 6141                   | 9113   | 9113                       | 6780                                            | 15893 119013           | 7125                            | 8768                       | 8768 48522                       | 6897 67134              | 15665                  |                                 | 6240 44480                 |
|                   | INDIA)            | 48162 63407                                     | 111569            | 55944                  | 55625  | 55664                      | 63349                                           |                        | 70440                           | 48573                      |                                  |                         | 115656                 | 71176                           |                            |

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 Ladakh

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