NEW DELHI: Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Karnataka are the top three states that have reported the highest numbers of missing girls in the last five years, according to government data. Gujarat, Delhi, Odisha and Chhattisgarh follow closely.
According to data provided by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, about 2,75,125 children went missing between January 1, 2018 and June 30, 2023. While 62,237 of the missing children were boys, a whopping 2,12,825 were girls.
Madhya Pradesh not only reports the highest number of girls going missing, but the number of children too, according to the data shared in the Lok Sabha. Of the 61,102 missing children, 49,024 were girls.
In the last five years, 49,129 children went missing in West Bengal, of which 41,808 were girls.
In Karnataka, 27,528 children were reported missing, including 18,893 girls. Gujarat follows, with 16,432 girls missing of the total 20,081 children.
Delhi saw 22,964 children go missing; 15,365 were girls. Odisha reported 17,149 missing children; 14,840 were girls.
The data also showed that of the 2,75,125 children that went missing in the country, 240,502 were found. Of this, 1,73,786 were girls and 66,638 boys. Lakshadweep and Mizoram did not report any children missing. In northeastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland, only one case each was reported.
According to Prof Shanta Sinha, former head of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, there is not enough focus on the protection of girls in the country. “The government has a campaign ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’, but there is not enough focus on protecting girls. Over 2 lakh girls have gone missing. It is a huge number. There is no noise about this issue. There has to be a continuous building of knowledge, information and awareness. The child care protection system needs to be strengthened,” Sinha told this newspaper.
Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said the ministry has developed the ‘TrackChild Portal’ that enables tracking of the missing and found children.