Just 2 states submit missing children stats

With no information coming in from the states on the number of missing children lodged in child protection units across the country, the Centre had written to each state to furnish details, but at last tally, only two states — Punjab and Chhattisgarh — complied with the diktat. Therein too, considering the number of children that go missing every year, it is a dismally low number.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had, on August 18, written to all states asking them to send details on two counts — how many children are lodged in their correctional facilities, and how many children have been recovered till now. In reply, Punjab said that they had 218 missing children, while Chhattisgarh had 86 missing children, numbers that belie the actual state of affairs. As per data from the Ministry of Women and Child Development, between January 2012 and March 20, 2017, around 2,42,938 children went missing. Of these, only 1,70,173 have been traced till date.

Of the 218 children, Punjab replied that children from various and one from Nepal as well, were lodged with the state’s Child Welfare Committees (CWCs). Chhattisgarh, additionally, said that of the 86 children lodged with its …read more