Srinagar, Mar 24 (KNO): The Centre on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha that hundreds of cases of missing girl children have been reported in Jammu and Kashmir over the past five years, with a significant number of them traced by authorities.
Replying to an unstarred question, the Minister of State for Home Affairs said that data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that in 2023, a total of 509 girl children (below 18 years) were reported missing in Jammu and Kashmir, of which 209 were traced, while 300 remained untraced.
As per the data accessed by the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), 502 cases of missing girl children were reported in 2022, while in 2021 the number stood at 443. In 2020, 350 cases were reported, and 355 cases were recorded in 2019 across the Union Territory.
The minister, however, said that the Central government supports the States and UTs through various initiatives, advisories and schemes to address the issue of missing children.
The House was informed that platforms like TrackChild portal and Khoya-Paya have been integrated under Mission Vatsalya to help trace missing children, while the system is also linked with the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) for better coordination among law enforcement agencies.
Besides, the government has issued standard operating procedures for handling cases of missing children and directed all States and UTs to register FIRs in such cases with immediate effect, treating them as cases of abduction or trafficking unless proven otherwise.
The minister further said that Child Helpline 1098 and Emergency Response Support System 112 are operational round-the-clock to assist children in distress, while Anti Human Trafficking Units have been strengthened across the country, including in Jammu and Kashmir.
He added that awareness programmes, monitoring mechanisms and coordination among stakeholders are being strengthened to ensure better safety and timely tracing of missing children—(KNO)