Approximately 70,000 children are reported missing every year
A web portal to be used as social medium for people to share information about missing children was launched today by the government.
Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi and Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad jointly launched the website 'Khoya-Paya', a platform for citizens to report children sighted as abandoned or lost.
On paper, the website seems like a good idea. Any parent whose child is missing can update information on this portal which will be shared with the cops and authorities in real time. Anyone in the country can also update information on any missing children they are aware of.
"There are approximately 70,000 children who are reported missing every year. We felt there was a need of a portal for everyone where details can be put up on khoya paya and then can contact the police," said Maneka Gandhi.
But how effective can this be for people on the ground? In Ranchi, Dolly Devi says her 10-year-old child went missing two years ago. The youngest of five children, he never returned from a local shop he had gone to. His parents - both daily wage labourers - have looked everywhere for their son.
"My child had gone to a shop from home. When he did not return we went looking for him. We went to the police station, but the cops did not help us, nor did the CID," said Dolly.
Jharkhand tops the list of states which see cases of missing children and those of child trafficking. These children mostly end up working as child labour in big cities or are thrown into sex trade. In almost all these cases, the families of such children are extremely poor, illiterate and can't even afford three meals a day.
Using the Internet is out of the question for them. The people who can help them, on the ground and with this website, are either NGOs which are already overburdened, or cops who are mostly indifferent. The real challenge on the ground perhaps is to change attitudes.