Children's day: Parents of missing children still forget to smile

Alappuzha: While the country celebrates Children’s Day, what remains unsolved is the mystery over hundreds of missing children despite the government introducing various missing children tracking missions including Operation Vatsalya and Operation Smile. For instance, police is still clueless about Santhosh, 12, who is missing since April 28, 2014, from the Mayithara children’s home, near Cherthala here, run by the Social Welfare Board.  Santhosh, who was living in the home for five years after being abandoned by his parents, ran away along with another inmate. The inmate was traced by the police and sent back.

According to Arthungal police, which had registered a case, the name had been put on the ‘Track Child 1.0’ website, and an FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint from the home. In the last few years, the Kerala police, which has joined hands with ‘Track Child 1.0’and ‘Operation Smile’, initiatives of the union ministry of women and child development, is being given special training to trace missing children quickly. According to an official with the State Crime Records Bureau, the reason to associate with the Track Child portlet is because it carries updates on the details of the missing children being registered in each police station in the state, as the cases of missing children come up.

"The State has set up specially-trained teams to trace missing children under the special juvenile police unit”, the official says. As per the Track Child 1.0' Kerala State Portlet, at least 738 children went missing in the last one year of which 370 were traced. In the last 30 days, 42 cases were registered, out of which 24 were traced. Four children went missing in the last 24 hours of which two were traced, the website says.

KK Joseph, member of the District Child Welfare Committee (CWC) says the committee has given strict orders to the management of homes to be more vigilant and take more stringent measures to avert the fleeing of children. Subair, a Child rights activist, says “Operation Smile” is inactive. "The operation’s teams were set up under the Deputy Superintendent of police, State Crime Records Bureau in every district but it lacks accuracy”, he points out.