Maharashtra has shockingly had approximately 2,965 girls disappear in the first six months this year, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday. The number has risen at least by a hundred from 2,881 girls, who had gone missing between January 1 and June 30 in 2016. The numbers were revealed in a written reply tabled at the State Legislative Assembly in response to a query by BJP MLA Randheer Savarkar.
Fadnavis added that the Centre had formed the www.trackthemissingchild.gov.in for this purpose. The website is an initiative by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, which has since 2009-10 implemented a Centrally sponsored scheme- the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS).The scheme's objectives are to improve and better the well being of children in difficult circumstances. The Scheme also envisions a mechanism to track 'missing' and 'found' children under ICPS and the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act,2000 ( JJ Act).
The Ministry had in this regard entrusted the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to develop a national portal- TrackChild which would have both data on 'missing' children and also a live database to monitor the progress of the 'found' children who are availing various services in different Child Care Institutions (CCIs) under the ICPS and the JJ Act.
The chief minister, who heads the Home Department, said, "No case was registered against any particular gang in this connection. Approximately 12 police departments have been instructed to take immediate action against such activities."
He added that the Railways was also updating their portal www.shodh.gov.in for the same purpose. These websites have been helpful in detecting cases," he said in the reply. The State government had organised four special drives including Operation Muskan and Operation Smile, which helped in finding 1,613 girls between January 1 and June 30, 2016, he added.
