Lok Sabha Question No. 390 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-21
Subject: Missing Children
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Brijendra Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.390

TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.07.2023

## MISSING CHILDREN

## 390.   SHRI BRIJENDRA SINGH:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the data of the number of children, particularly girls who have been missing during the last five years, State-wise;
- (b) the number of children who have been found out of the total number of missing children;
- (c) whether the Government has taken any steps to speed up the tracing of missing children; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) : The Ministry of Women and Child Development developed the 'TrackChild Portal', which enables tracking of the missing and found children.  The State-wise number of children, particularly girls who have been missing, as per TrackChild portal, during the last five years and current year (01.01.2018 to 30.06.2023) is at Annexure-I.

(b) : State wise number of children who have been found out, as per TrackChild portal, during the last five years and current year (01.01.2018 to 30.06.2023) is at AnnexureII.

(c) & (d) : One component of TrackChild Portal has 'Khoya-Paya' where any citizen can report for any missing or sighted children. The TrackChild portal is implemented with support  and  involvement  of  various  stakeholders  namely  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs, Ministry of Railways, State Governments/ UT Administrations, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards, National Legal Services Authority, etc. Standard operating procedure have been issued for the 'TrackChild' Portal. Advisories have also been issued to all States and UTs including Director General of Police of all States & UTs  and  other  stakeholders  regarding  implementation  of  TrackChild  portal.  The TrackChild  portal is also integrated with the CCTNS or Crime and Criminal Tracking & Network Systems of the Ministry of Home Affairs which allows interoperability in terms of  matching of F.I.Rs of missing children with data base of TrackChild to trace and match missing children by the concerned State/UT police.

In order to reach out to all the children in distress, a 24X7 toll-free child helpline 1098 i.e. Childline, is operational. Childline 1098 provides emergency outreach services to children  in  difficult  circumstances.  Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development  and Ministry of Railways developed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for rescue and rehabilitation of children coming in contact with Railways who are lost/missing and in need of care and protection. Presently as on 31.03.2023 Railway Childline is functional at 135 Railway Stations and Child Help Desks are also available round the clock at 11 Bus  Stands  which  provide  outreach  services  for  children  in  crisis  linking  them  to emergency and long term care and rehabilitation services. The unaccompanied/missing children found at railway stations and bus stands are also produced before the Child Welfare Committee and their details are also uploaded into the TrackChild portal.

The  Ministry  is  also  implementing  a  centrally  sponsored  scheme  namely  'Mission Vatsalya'  to  support  to  the  State  and  UT  Governments  for  delivering  services  for Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) and Children in Conflict with Law (CCL)  in  difficult  circumstances,  including  for  the  missing  children.  The  Child  Care Institutions  (CCIs)  established  under  the  scheme  support inter-alia age-appropriate education, access to vocational training, recreation, health care and counselling. The children  in  need  of  care  and  protection  staying  with  their  relatives  or  in  foster  care receive support under Mission Vatsalya.

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ANNEXURE-I

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (A) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.390 FOR  ANSWER ON 21.07.2023  ASKED  BY  SHRI BRIJENDRA SINGH REGARDING MISSING CHILDREN

STATE-WISE NUMBER OF CHILDREN, PARTICULARLY GIRLS WHO HAVE BEEN MISSING DURING THE LAST FIVE YEARS AND CURRENT YEAR (01.01.2018 TO 30.06.2023)

| Sl.   | State/UT                             | Missing   | Missing   | Missing   | Missing   |
|-------|--------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| No.   |                                      | Male      | Female    | Others    | Total     |
| 1     | Andaman & Nicobar                    | 45        | 118       | 0         | 163       |
| 2     | Andhra Pradesh                       | 1993      | 4507      | 2         | 6502      |
| 3     | Arunachal Pradesh                    | 0         | 1         | 0         | 1         |
| 4     | Assam                                | 300       | 453       | 1         | 754       |
| 5     | Bihar                                | 869       | 3444      | 2         | 4315      |
| 6     | Chandigarh                           | 165       | 385       | 0         | 550       |
| 7     | Chhattisgarh                         | 2693      | 14017     | 1         | 16711     |
| 8     | Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu | 11        | 26        | 0         | 37        |
| 9     | Delhi                                | 7588      | 15365     | 11        | 22964     |
| 10    | Goa                                  | 7         | 11        | 0         | 18        |
| 11    | Gujarat                              | 3631      | 16432     | 18        | 20081     |
| 12    | Haryana                              | 1008      | 1502      | 2         | 2512      |
| 13    | Himachal Pradesh                     | 153       | 394       | 0         | 547       |
| 14    | Jammu & Kashmir*                     | 76        | 138       | 0         | 214       |
| 15    | Ladakh*                              |           |           |           |           |
| 16    | Jharkhand                            | 9         | 8         | 0         | 17        |
| 17    | Karnataka                            | 8632      | 18893     | 3         | 27528     |
| 18    | Kerala                               | 2010      | 2019      | 4         | 4033      |
| 19    | Lakshadweep                          | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         |
| 20    | Madhya Pradesh                       | 12075     | 49024     | 3         | 61102     |
| 21    | Maharashtra                          | 1999      | 5289      | 2         | 7290      |
| 22    | Manipur                              | 0         | 1         | 0         | 1         |
| 23    | Meghalaya                            | 135       | 234       | 0         | 369       |
| 24    | Mizoram                              | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         |
| 25    | Nagaland                             | 1         | 0         | 0         | 1         |
| 26    | Odisha                               | 2309      | 14840     | 0         | 17149     |
| 27    | Pondicherry                          | 251       | 399       | 0         | 650       |
| 28    | Punjab                               | 285       | 662       | 0         | 947       |
| 29    | Rajasthan                            | 1994      | 8786      | 2         | 10782     |
| 30    | Sikkim                               | 50        | 117       | 0         | 167       |
| 31    | Tamil Nadu                           | 1500      | 4374      | 2         | 5876      |
| 32    | Telangana                            | 515       | 1076      | 0         | 1591      |
| 33    | Tripura                              | 34        | 111       | 0         | 145       |
| 34    | Uttarakhand                          | 771       | 1079      | 0         | 1850      |
| 35    | Uttar Pradesh                        | 3817      | 7312      | 0         | 11129     |
| 36    | West Bengal                          | 7311      | 41808     | 10        | 49129     |
| Total | Total                                | 62237     | 212825    | 63        | 275125    |

*Number of children included for both Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

ANNEXURE-II

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (B) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.390 FOR ANSWER ON 21.07.2023 ASKED BY SHRI BRIJENDRA SINGH REGARDING MISSING CHILDREN

STATE-WISE NUMBER OF CHILDREN WHO HAVE BEEN FOUND OUT DURING THE LAST FIVE YEARS AND CURRENT YEAR (01.01.2018 TO 30.06.2023)

| Sl.   | State/UT                             | Recovery   | Recovery   | Recovery   | Recovery   |
|-------|--------------------------------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|
| No.   |                                      | Male       | Female     | Others     | Total      |
| 1     | Andaman & Nicobar                    | 42         | 113        | 0          | 155        |
| 2     | Andhra Pradesh                       | 1737       | 2942       | 3          | 4682       |
| 3     | Arunachal Pradesh                    | 0          | 0          | 0          | 0          |
| 4     | Assam                                | 252        | 218        | 0          | 470        |
| 5     | Bihar                                | 462        | 838        | 0          | 1300       |
| 6     | Chandigarh                           | 117        | 230        | 0          | 347        |
| 7     | Chhattisgarh                         | 2807       | 11419      | 0          | 14226      |
| 8     | Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu | 6          | 20         | 0          | 26         |
| 9     | Delhi                                | 5960       | 10496      | 7          | 16463      |
| 10    | Goa                                  | 16         | 7          | 0          | 23         |
| 11    | Gujarat                              | 3899       | 15767      | 19         | 19685      |
| 12    | Haryana                              | 1797       | 1051       | 1          | 2849       |
| 13    | Himachal Pradesh                     | 133        | 328        | 1          | 462        |
| 14    | Jammu & Kashmir*                     | 35         | 48         | 0          | 83         |
| 15    | Ladakh*                              |            |            |            |            |
| 16    | Jharkhand                            | 115        | 124        | 0          | 239        |
| 17    | Karnataka                            | 7163       | 14649      | 5          | 21817      |
| 18    | Kerala                               | 1926       | 2073       | 3          | 4002       |
| 19    | Lakshadweep                          | 0          | 0          | 0          | 0          |
| 20    | Madhya Pradesh                       | 11850      | 45108      | 4          | 56962      |
| 21    | Maharashtra                          | 9097       | 5246       | 6          | 14349      |
| 22    | Manipur                              | 0          | 0          | 0          | 0          |
| 23    | Meghalaya                            | 144        | 233        | 0          | 377        |
| 24    | Mizoram                              | 0          | 0          | 0          | 0          |
| 25    | Nagaland                             | 3          | 3          | 0          | 6          |
| 26    | Odisha                               | 2219       | 11285      | 2          | 13506      |
| 27    | Pondicherry                          | 80         | 105        | 0          | 185        |
| 28    | Punjab                               | 94         | 355        | 0          | 449        |
| 29    | Rajasthan                            | 1821       | 7085       | 3          | 8909       |
| 30    | Sikkim                               | 44         | 90         | 0          | 134        |
| 31    | Tamil Nadu                           | 1349       | 3433       | 3          | 4785       |
| 32    | Telangana                            | 751        | 492        | 0          | 1243       |
| 33    | Tripura                              | 16         | 77         | 0          | 93         |
| 34    | Uttarakhand                          | 955        | 1181       | 0          | 2136       |
| 35    | Uttar Pradesh                        | 1937       | 2968       | 0          | 4905       |
| 36    | West Bengal                          | 9811       | 35802      | 21         | 45634      |
| Total | Total                                | 66638      | 173786     | 78         | 240502     |

*Number of children included for both Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

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