According to the National Human Rights Commission, over 44,000 children go missing every year while the National Centre for Missing Children says there are 10 lakh runaways in India every year. The alarming number is further aggravated by the fact that the country has no central data on the number of children missing, or what has happened to them. Consequently, it is not known whether children are being picked up for criminal activities by organised gangs, sold into prostitution or labour, or have run away for a specific purpose.
If a response to an RTI application is any indicator, Delhi is one the most unsafe place for children. Police has revealed that almost 8 children go missing in the city every day. Most of the children reported missing belong to migrant families. 2,161 children had been registered as missing in New Delhi, in a span of 270 days, in 2010. The Delhi police said most missing children belonged to migrant families.
The RTI revelation is shocking and no lessons have been learnt from the gruesome Nithari killings, where 19 children were found to have been murdered. Directions from the courts have had little impact. In September 2010, the Delhi High Court directed the city police to find out whether organised gangs were behind cases of children going missing.
Even with such alarming numbers, lack of action on the part of the police has been a longstanding complaint. With such an attitude, it is unlikely that the statistics will ever come down. It is time the Centre wakes up to the fact and come up with a concrete legislation so that young ones are not left on their own. Safety of children should be at the fore for any nation to develop in true sense.