Serious crime against women on rise, need strict measures: HM

He also asked the country's police brass to take stern steps to check child trafficking.

"Serious crimes against women have continuously increased during the period 2009-11. We need to adopt appropriate measures for swift and salutary punishment to the persons found guilty of violence against women," he said addressing police Director Generals and Inspector Generals from across the country during an annual conference here.

Referring to crime against children, he said, "In 2011 alone, nearly 60,000 children are reported to be missing in the country. This is such a large number that it merits some attention from the police at all levels".

Shinde said the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has developed a 'Track the Missing Children Portal' which has been successfully piloted in West Bengal for the last three years and would be available to all police stations in the country as well as to all child care institutions.

"This would enable faster detection of matches of lost and found children which will enable recovery," he said.

The Home Minister also asked the police chiefs to increase the numbers of women personnel in their respective organisations.

"The overall representation of women in police forces should be increased through affirmative action as there are only 83,829 women police in our country as on January 2012," he said.