Thousands missing ... and still counting

Arun Kumar Das / TNN / Nov 11, 2006, 23:54 IST

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On an average, more than 40,000 children go missing every year in India. Of these, 12,000 are never found.

Thousands missing ... and still counting

On an average, more than 40,000 children go missing every year in India. Of these, 12,000 are never found. But a bigger revelation is that a majority of the missing cases are never reported; only a fraction of them find mention in official records.
PM Nair, project coordinator, anti-human trafficking of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, says, "As per our survey in 2004, 44,476 children were missing in the country, of which 11,008 have not been traced.
In Delhi alone, 3,951 children are reportedly missing, followed by Maharashtra with 2,359. There are a significant number of cases from UP, Bihar and other states also."
However, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), only 3,196 children were reportedly kidnapped in the country in 2005, while in 2004, the number was 3,518. The number of cases of crime against children rose from 14,423 in 2004 to 14,975 in 2005.

Nair says, "The actual figure of missing children is much higher because many cases are not reported, particularly in remote areas. We came across many unreported cases while conducting the survey with the help of the NGOs involved in rescuing children from bonded labour.
For example, we found that children are still exported to the Gulf for camel racing." Children are kidnapped for various reasons those from rich families are generally kidnapped for ransom; many others are abducted for trafficking, camel racing, forced begging or stealing, slavery, forced marriages or organ transplantion.

"A major percentage of missing children are assumed to be in exploitative situations like trafficking," says Nair. "We came across agents of kidnappers during our survey.
Strangely, very few kidnappers are mentioned in police records." He adds, "The need of the hour is to establish direct linkage between NGOs and various government agencies to trace these missing children."
Jagadanand, secretary, Centre for Youth and Social Development, agrees that many cases of missing children go unreported. "Children are kidnapped from tribal areas in Orissa and forced into begging and other hazardous work outside the state.
In fact, they are considered fair game by unscrupulous elements and are becoming easy targets." He adds, "Another disturbing fact is that they are also used for organ transplantation."
GS Patnaik, Delhi social welfare secretary, says, "We have state-run homes to provide shelter to the rescued children. After finding their parents' address, we try to send them back home."
In Chhattisgarh, naxalites are reportedly closing down schools and taking away tribal children to training camps, where they are taught how to use weapons and deal with explosives.
Reports says the state police has spotted children in school uniforms with naxalites, in encounters in Kapasi and Basguda. The children are being used as shields against police action.
According to Deepa Singh Jain, Union secretary for women and child welfare, "There's no denying the fact that magnitude of the problem is serious. We are trying to create database networking among organisations dealing with missing persons. There is also a plan to constitute a missing persons bureau."

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