The issue of missing children in India

The title of this module is "The issue of missing children in India." It seeks to give the reader a fundamental grasp of the problem of child separation from families and its causes. Additionally, it will inform readers on the most recent protections for kids from such separations as well as programs for their rehabilitation. It seeks to give the students the opportunity to get involved in the search for and rehabilitation of missing children.

Content

Introduction
Etiology of Children’s Separation from Family
Recommendations of NHRC Regarding Missing Children
Operation Smile (Muskan)
National Website for Tracking Missing Children
Conclusion

Introduction

India, with 1.21 billion inhabitants, is the second-most populated nation in the world, and children (those under the age of 18) make up 39% of the nation's overall population (CIF, 2015). According to census data from 2011, India is thought to be the country where roughly 19 percent of all children live. Furthermore, 44 crore people, or more than one third of the population, are under the age of 18. There are an unknown number of lost children in India. Unconfirmed claims state that there are 10 lakh runaways per year, which translates to one child leaving their home every 30 seconds. The number of missing children in India would be astounding if we included the number of lost, missing, and kidnapped/abducted kids as well.

Over 3.25 lakh children went missing between 2011 and 2014 (through June), at an average of approximately 1 lakh children going missing every year, according to data on missing children released by the Union Home Ministry in July 2014 before Parliament. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) claimed that 44000 children are reported missing on average per year in 2005. As many as 11,000 of them are still unaccounted for .

Why are there so many kidnapped and unaccounted-for children in our society? How the investigation is conducted comes first. First Information Reports (FIRs) are frequently not registered. Instead, a simple entry is placed into the police station's registry of missing people, and a picture of the missing youngster is distributed to all municipal and district police stations. Only when a kidnapping complaint is filed by the individual who reports a child missing are cases seriously examined (Tiwary, 2014). Many times across the nation, the police have been accused of taking a very lax attitude to investigations involving missing children.

A Supreme Court bench had made the following statement on February 5, 2013, in response to the government's indifference to the matter of 1.7 lakh missing children: "About missing children, nobody seems to be concerned. The irony is this." As previously said, according to data from the Home Ministry from July 2014, over 3.25 lakh children went missing between 2011 and 2014 (through June), with an average of approximately 1 lakh children going missing year. Government records indicate that more than 1.5 lakh additional children have vanished over the past almost 1.5 years, and the situation has remained the same with an average of 45% of them still unaccounted for. In contrast to this, about 3,000 children every year in Pakistan and about 10,000 in China go missing. In fact, the National Crime Records Bureau calculates the number of missing children in India as one child every eight minutes. More concerningly, 55% of those missing are females, and 45% of all missing children have not yet been found, raising concerns that they may have been killed or forced into beggaring or prostitution rings.

Over 50,000 children have vanished in the past three and a half years in Maharashtra, making it one of the worst states for missing children (2011-2014). With fewer than 25,000 missing children reported in each of Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, and Andhra Pradesh within the same time period, these three states lag far behind. However, alarmingly, there are more missing girls than boys in each of these states. 10,000 more girls than boys went missing in Maharashtra. In Andhra Pradesh, there are almost twice as many missing girls (11,625) as there are missing boys (6,915). Similar to this, there are more than 15,000 missing girls in Madhya Pradesh compared to 9,000 missing boys. Delhi, too, has more missing girls (10,581) than missing boys (9,367). What's worse is that there isn't a specific emphasis on finding missing children within the framework of law and order (Tiwary, 2014). It is past time for our law enforcement agencies to create specialized procedures for handling the issue of missing children in order to help more youngsters find their families.

Etiology of Children’s Separation from Family

The family is regarded as the most significant major social institution for a child's upbringing and development. Any child has a basic right to their family because they depend on them for their physical and mental health. Normal conditions do not call for infants and younger children to live apart from their families. However, when the family loses track of the child's whereabouts, contact with the child and them is broken for a number of reasons. A child who has been taken away from his or her family without permission and whose whereabouts are unknown to the family may be considered missing. Both the family and the child experience emotional distress when the whereabouts of the youngster are unknown.

The family may lose track of the child for a number of reasons. In the Indian setting, a kid may be estranged from its family for the reasons listed below:

The family either misplaces the child in a crowded public space or the child accidentally wanders off without the family's knowledge. These circumstances typically arise when the youngster is extremely young and unable to find their way back to the family on their own.
The kidnapping and removal of the child from the family. This could be done for a ransom, retaliation, or sexual assault. Additionally, it might be done to facilitate prostitution, the sale of organs, child labor, or beggarly.
A child tries to get away from the family on purpose. This is due to a number of factors. The most significant one is sexual misconduct inside the family or physical abuse. Many children from impoverished rural and urban households flee their homes because of domestic problems related to poverty or physical abuse. Other reasons why kids flee include peer pressure or acts of disobedience. The amount of kids who flee their homes after quitting school is likewise very high. Typically, they flee to larger cities where they are preyed upon by exploitation.
For the child's improved chances, the family gives the child to another person or agency. Many poor Indian parents give their kids to someone else or an agency in order to give them better prospects. The family then stops communicating with the youngster.
Due to poverty, the parents may sell the child or knowingly abandon it. There have been numerous instances like this. Sometimes, parents who are unable to care for their children because of poverty willfully leave them in a public location, such a train station. In in other situations, they simply sell their child to anyone who will pay. Both times, the child is taken away from the family.
A family secretly abandons a newborn due to the child's physical defects, the fact that the child is a girl, or the fact that the child was born outside of a couple's consent. Many people are unaware of their legal right to legally give up custody of their biological child so that the youngster can be adopted and properly rehabilitated. This can be done without endangering the child.
The child's deviant behavior or drug addiction causes the family to reject the youngster. In other cases, parents who are tired of their child's deviance or drug use kick the youngster out of the house and don't want to keep in touch with him or her.
A illness, accident, or natural calamity wipes off the entire family, leaving the child as the lone survivor. Children in such situations, like lost children, become orphans without family support.

Child Trafficking and Missing Children

Due to their separation from the most important institution, their families, all of the children in the aforementioned categories could be regarded as missing children. Children may be forced into deviance or be the target of sexual exploitation or physical abuse by unscrupulous individuals after they are taken away from their families for any of the aforementioned reasons and placed on the street without protection. There are signs that missing children and child trafficking are related. According to CIF Reports, children who disappear may be utilized for a variety of exploitation and abuse schemes, ranging from victims of the organ trade in the Gulf to gruesome cannibalism as was recorded in Nithari Village in Noida.

There is also proof that a number of dishonest adoption agencies sell babies who have been taken from needy parents in violation of the law. Adoption-related trafficking is not just an international issue. Even within the nation, the demand for adoption has grown, giving rise to numerous scams. There are reasons to think that the problem of missing children and child trafficking are closely related. We don't have complete statistics information on child trafficking in all of its manifestations and intentions. Since there is no "single-law" to handle the problem, the majority of occurrences go unreported. As a result, there are insufficient and dispersed data on child trafficking. Nearly two million children are abused and trafficked annually, with South Asia leading the world in the amount of child trafficking for sexual exploitation, according to the UN. As previously mentioned, the NCRB reports that girls account for 55% of missing children in India. One theory for why so many missing children stay unidentified is that they are frequently stolen and sold to child traffickers, who then sell them to owners of brothels.

It is challenging to conduct a poll and determine the precise number of missing children due to a variety of issues. Frequently, police are not notified of incidents. The police do not record the First Information Report even when it is reported (FIR). The police are currently one of the most crucial agencies for action in cases of missing children. The police are largely responsible for finding missing children. All other daycare centers can simply offer supportive services. When a child goes missing, immediate action must be taken to assure their timely rescue, secure housing, and speedy rehabilitation. It is crucial that they have a safety net in place for their wellbeing and protection in order to lessen their susceptibility.

Recommendations of NHRC Regarding Missing Children

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has made the following recommendations to state and federal governments about missing children.

The issue of missing children needs to be given top consideration by state, union, and law enforcement organizations.
To assist in locating missing children, each police station should have a specialized squad and missing person's desk. It is also possible to engage the Special Juvenile Police Unit for this.
Reiterated the High Court's ruling establishing the CBI's missing children's unit.
District administrators are in charge of monitoring the amount of working kids in their jurisdiction. He or she is needed to often inspect these areas.
The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights should be notified of every incidence of a missing child nationwide (NCPCR).
The community and panchayat should be involved in the investigation into missing children
NGO's can also help in reporting and looking into cases of missing children.
NCRB must establish a system or database that gives local authorities access to all cases of missing children.
The government is expected to provide CHILDLINE 1098 with appropriate support.
The filing of FIRs in cases of missing children is advised.

. Operation Smile (Muskan)

"Operation Smile (Muskan)" was created by Senior Superintendent of Police of Ghaziabad Mr. Dharmendra Singh to find and rescue kidnapped children. In an effort to find and save missing children, he had started this operation in September 2014. 228 youngsters who had been reported missing from various parts of the country were found during the month-long effort. Encouraged by the operation's effectiveness, the Union Home Ministry asked all states and union territories to launch a comparable campaign in January 2015. "Since the Supreme Court has been emphasizing early recovery of all missing children, it is desirable that, based on the knowledge garnered from Operation Smile, all state governments and Union Territories may take the initiative," the letter stated. Cases of children who are screened as belonging to the group of missing children should be recorded. According to the Home Secretary's letter, the campaign should run from July 1 through July 31, 2015. It encouraged the police to record video and take pictures of the kids, then send their information to the Ministry of Women and Child Development's website called "Track the Missing Child." The primary goals of the program were to combat child trafficking and to protect kids from adults who tried to use them for sexual trafficking, begging, and other antisocial acts.

Teams of experts from the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR& D) and former police officers gave officers specialized training in accordance with the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offenses (POCSO), Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, and Protection of Civil Rights (PCR) Act, as per instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs. Before July 1, 2015, police officers from every state had received the necessary training in order to gently elicit information from the kids. Police officers were told not to threaten them. The Ministry of Home Affairs intended to make appropriate announcements on incentives for the top achievers in each state in order to encourage police personnel to approach such instances with sincerity and empathy. It has requested reports on "Operation Smile" and award nominations from the state police.

As part of "Operation Smile (Muskan)," police teams in some locations also checked shelter houses, train stations, bus stops, and places of worship to confirm the children present were who they claimed to be. A case of child labor was filed against the employer if it became out that the youngster was under the age of 14. Additionally, a database is being constructed using the images and videos of these kids as well as the data about them that has been posted on the ministry of women and child development website's missing children page. So that their relatives can recognize them, information on youngsters found on the street is also made public through print and electronic media. Under the auspices of this effort, hundreds of missing children were found. Additionally, police teams were dispatched to several locations in an effort to find the parents of these kids.

Search operations have been carried out so far under "Operation Smile (Muskan)" in 28 cities across nine States, namely Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Ajmersareef, Jaipur, Bikaner, Pushkar, Hyderabad, Vishakhapatanam, Mumbai, Nasik, Pune, Nagpur, Delhi NCR, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat were the nine States covered. There are also plans for this operation's follow-up.

The operation's details from several cities showed that a variety of cases had developed during the operation. Many of the children who had been rescued were from other states or towns. Some kids' parents had abandoned them because they were drug users. Some parents wouldn't accept them home. For treatment and care, these kids were referred to facilities for kids. It was also discovered that many parents had not contacted the police about a missing child. Some kids were sold as child labor after being smuggled from Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, the United Provinces, Rajasthan, and Orissa.

National Website for Tracking Missing Children

Since 2009–10, the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, has been carried out by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD). The program's goals are to improve the wellbeing of children living in challenging conditions and to lessen vulnerabilities to events and behaviors that result in child abuse, neglect, exploitation, abandonment, and separation. The Plan also calls for developing a system for monitoring "found" and "lost" children under the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act, 2000, and the ICPS ( JJ Act).

The MWCD acknowledged that there is currently a severe lack of data and information relative to matters of child protection. Due to this disconnect, it is impossible to comprehend the scope of the issue, including the number of children in need of assistance and the resources they require. The MWCD, under the ICPS, has created a system for managing and reporting child protection data as well as a tool for keeping track of the execution of all of its child protection plans in order to close this gap. For the WCD Ministry, the National Informatics Center (NIC) created the national portal "TrackChild," which not only contains information on "missing" children but also features a live database for tracking the progress of "found" children who are utilizing various services in various Child Care Institutions (CCIs) in accordance with the ICPS and the JJ Act.

As a knowledge base for child protection issues, a web-enabled child protection management information system (MIS) has been developed. For the purpose of locating missing children and ultimately repatriating and rehabilitating them, "TrackChild" has been developed. In general, "TrackChild" software has two modules: the information of children already covered by the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Child) Act 2000 and the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) is to be entered in the software by the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) functionaries, including Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) & Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) members. The ultimate objective of the "TrackChild" project is to make it easier to match "found" children who are residing in child care institutions with "lost" children who are reported to police stations (CCIs).

This is a difficult, time-consuming operation that requires a lot of resources. Through the effective use of web-enabled software created by NIC for this purpose, the Child Tracking System provides data entry mechanisms and standardized procedures for enabling centralized coordination. At the state level, this Child Tracking System is being set up and run by SCPS with assistance from DCPUs.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 and Model Rules, as well as the provisions outlined in the Integrated Child Protection Scheme, served as the foundation for the design and development of the "TrackChild" portal (ICPS). The establishment of a child monitoring system, which will make it easier to enter data and match missing and found children, as well as enable follow-up on the progress of children who are beneficiaries of the Scheme, is one of the duties given to the State Governments under ICPS. Thus, the site would also assure effective oversight and the wellbeing of the children covered by the Scheme. To make it easier for the children enrolled in the ICPS to enter their data, the Homes and Child Welfare Committees are being furnished with computers, employees, etc.

For all stakeholders and ICPS bodies, such as the Central Project Support Unit (CPSU), State Child Protection Society/ Units, District Child Protection Units (DCPU), Child Care Institutions (CCIs), Police Stations, Child Welfare Committees (CWCs), Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs), etc. in the 35 States/UTs, the "TrackChild" portal offers an integrated virtual space. Additionally, it offers a networking mechanism for all the people and stakeholders to make it easier to find a "kid in distress." At many levels, including police stations, child care institutions (CCIs)/homes, shelters, child welfare committees, and juvenile justice boards, among others, it necessitates data entry and updating.

The software also offers mapping tools for sensitive areas, i.e. those where many children have been reported missing, so that appropriate action can be done there. The program has also eased the monitoring by senior officials of the steps being taken by the Police to find the missing youngsters.

The National Institute of Public Cooperation And Child Development (NIPCCD), Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA), Zonal Integrated Child Welfare System, State Department of Home (Police), Ministry of Women and Child Development, National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), State Department of Home (Police), and Zonal Integrated Child Welfare System have all been closely collaborating with the Ministry of Women and Child Development in the area of child protection in the nation. Additionally, on October 30, 2012, and December 12, 2013, two national conferences were held to educate police officers, other stakeholders, and high-level officers of state departments of WCDs.

To date, 35 States/UTs' police officers and ICPS functionaries have received training from MWCD and the National Informatics Centre (NIC) on how to utilize the "TrackChild" software. Need-based trainings are carried out in response to requests from States. Additionally, 35 States/UTs have been assigned to get technical assistance from NIC's nodal officers. Departments of WCD have also appointed TrackChild nodal officers by States and UTs.

The DCPUs are in charge of conducting an exercise to map every service offered to vulnerable children, children in difficult situations, and their families in a district. This would include for example, location and contact data of all police stations, child care institutions, hospitals, primary health care (PHC) systems, paediatricians, members of CWCs and JJBs, Childline Services, etc. In order to provide a comprehensive, integrated, live database for children in need of care and protection, the DCPU will also keep track of all children in institutional care and non-institutional care at the district level. It is gradually being developed and expanded across the entire nation because it is a sophisticated and intensive activity that requires a lot of time and resources.

Another website that is operated by the National Centre for Missing Children (502, Chetak Centre, 12/2 RNT Marg, Indore 452001, MP) allows users to look for and report incidents of missing children. The NCMC is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that provides its services without charging for them. Information about kids who were discovered and are currently in various institutions across the nation is provided in one section. This is being done to track down the parents of children who have been reported missing. There is another section for finding the biological parents of kids who were raised apart from their parents (now those children would be adults). The website also aims to teach parents, kids, and schools about safety precautions and requirements (against getting separated)

Conclusion

India's population will be roughly 400 million children in ten years, which is equivalent to the population of most developed nations. Of these, the poorest 100 million families would make up the majority. The investment in children is the greatest investment there is. Given that a sizable number of kids are taken away from their homes each year, it is crucial that this problem is given top priority in the nation's child rights initiatives. It is possible to handle the problem of missing children by taking the proper corrective actions. It is hoped that by taking the above-mentioned steps, we would be able to lessen the vulnerability of missing children in India and ensure that they are quickly located and reunited with their family. Additionally, it is envisaged that these actions will contribute to effectively reducing the risk of child prostitution and child trafficking.