Kerala to set up MCB to trace missing children

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 28: With the child missing cases increasing manifold, Kerala has geared up to launch a Missing Child Bureau (MCB) to help the dejected parents trace their children anywhere in the world.

The MCB would start functioning in a year and the government had agreed to it in principle, sources in the Social Welfare Department told UNI.

All the details of the missing child would be consolidated and published in a website and the parents would be able to trace their missing links to any part of the country and across the world.

''Today, it is very difficult to match the details of the missing child. Suppose a child goes missing in Thiruvananthapuram and found in New Delhi, it is difficult to match the identifications. But once the network comes up, there will not be any difficulty,'' they said.

The details from the MCB would be published in the National Missing Children Bureau. This would help pass the information world wide and thereby help trace missing children.

There was all possibility for setting up the Bureau in a year as the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) had been included in the Eleventh Plan, they said.

On the project, they said the Social Welfare Department had drafted a project which is yet to be finalised.

The Home Department had a major role in the Bureau and the proposal was with them. Once they finalise it, the MCB could be set up in no time, they said.

The Social Welfare Minister and the Home Minister had held discussions and had almost reached an agreement in this regard.

Recently, a meeting was held which was attended by the ministers and top officials of the Social Welfare and Home Departments.

UNI