Over 2.7 Lakh Children Missing Since 2018; Madhya Pradesh Tops List

Over 2.75 lakh children went missing in the country in the last five years, including 2.12 lakh girls, the Union Women and Child Development Ministry said on Friday.

According to data provided by Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani, 2.40 lakh missing children were traced during this period.

2,12,825 (2.12 lakh) girls are among 2,75,125 (2.75 lakh) children to go missing since 2018.

Of the 2,40,502 (2.40 lakh) children traced, 1,73,786 (1.73 lakh) were girls, she said in the Lok Sabha.

With 61,102 missing children, including 49,024 missing girls and 12,075 missing boys, Madhya Pradesh topped the list. This was followed by West Bengal with 49,129 missing children, including 41,808 missing girls and 7,311 missing boys.

Karnataka, which was the state with the third highest number at 27,538, saw 18,893 girls and 8,632 boys go missing in the aforementioned period.

Irani, in a written response, said the ministry has developed the "TrackChild Portal", which enables tracking of missing and traced children.

"Standard operating procedures 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 ... The TrackChild portal is also integrated with the Crime and Criminal Tracking & Network Systems (CCTNS) of the Ministry of Home Affairs which allows interoperability in terms of matching of FIRs of missing children with database of TrackChild to trace and match missing children," Irani said in her reply.