SC asks Centre to set up dedicated online portal to trace missing children

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to create a dedicated online portal under the aegis of the home ministry to trace missing children and investigate such cases.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan underlined the lack of coordination among police authorities entrusted with the job of tracing missing children in states and union territories in the country.

The court said the portal could have a dedicated officer from each state who could be the in charge of missing complaints besides disseminate information.

The top court outlined the need for a "coordinated effort" to trace missing children and creation of a dedicated online portal to deal with the issue.

The bench consequently asked additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, to seek instructions in the matter.

The top court previously directed the Centre to issue reminders to several states and union territories to furnish data on missing children cases.

NGO Guria Swayam Sevi Sansthan had moved the top court and highlighted unresolved cases of kidnapping or missing children besides the actions required to be taken on the basis of information available with the Khoya/Paya portal monitored by the government of India.

The petition illustrated its argument with five cases registered in Uttar Pradesh last year in which minor boys and girls were kidnapped and trafficked through a network of middlemen to states like Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.