A total of 25,438 children went missing from the state in seven years. file photo
Jagran correspondent, Bhubaneswar. The incidents of missing minor children, especially girls, are becoming a matter of grave concern in the state. A total of 25,438 children have gone missing from the state in the last seven years.
In the year 2023 alone, 5,928 cases of missing children were reported. According to the data, till now no trace of 7,272 children has been found, which includes 6,497 minor girls. This means that about 90 percent of the missing children are girls.
According to sources, missing minor girls are being taken to neighboring states of West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh as well as Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka through human trafficking. This network is continuously active and despite administrative efforts, it is not being completely controlled.
To stop human trafficking, Integrated Anti-Human Trafficking Units have been established in 36 police districts of the state. Along with this, the Crime Branch had also started schemes like Operation Smile, Muskaan and Pari between 2015 and 2019. Despite this, the number of missing minor girls is continuously increasing.
A look at the figures
According to the data, between 2017 and 2023, maximum number of children have gone missing from Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Ganjam and Jajpur districts. In the year 2022, 4,757 children went missing, including 507 minor boys and 4,250 minor girls. 4,133 children went missing in the year 2021, including 477 boys and 3,656 girls.
In the year 2020, 2,899 children were reported missing, of which 343 were minor boys and 2,556 were minor girls. Whereas in 2019, 3,151 children went missing, of which 560 were boys and 2,591 were girls. In 2018, this number stood at 2,326, while in 2017, 2,244 children went missing.
Although Odisha Police is running a campaign every year to recover missing children, but the increase in the figures every year has increased the concern of the government and administration.
Experts believe that without effective control on human trafficking, strict monitoring in border areas and social awareness, it is not possible to solve this serious problem.