Under 'Pehchaan', over 2K slum kids get identity

New Delhi: Children living in different slum clusters becomes vulnerable after their parents leave for jobs. And if they goes missing, there are chances that their families might not be able to show any identity proof of their kids. Seeing the situation, the city police under scheme 'Pehchaan' created a data bank of more than 2,500 kids living in vulnerable situations in the current year.

Police sources said that in the latest crime review meeting, different initiatives including 'Pehchaan' were discussed.

The Delhi Police data accessed by Millennium Post revealed that in the current year, under "Pehchaan" scheme 271 areas in 15 districts had been covered.

Last year, city police reached out to more than 3,000 underprivileged kids. Nearly 331 areas were covered.

"Children were photographed in order to maintain a data bank which can be used to trace the child in case he/she goes missing," police said.

The data of the current year till May revealed that among 15 districts, Rohini district issued i-cards to 1,681 children whereas North East district reached out to more than 300 kids. As many as 155 vulnerable kids in Dwarka district also got identity cards.

"The Police Commissioner in meetings with districts always reviews the status of investigation in POCSO cases and steps which are taken for the safety of kids," added sources.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Madhur Verma said that they provide identity cards to those children who are living in vulnerable slum clusters and are from the economically weak background.

"Most vulnerable are those kids whose parents goes for work by leaving them alone in the house. We take a record of these children so that, in case if they went missing, we will have data which will help us in tracing the kid," added DCP Madhur Verma.

According to police, analysis of reasons behind missing children revealed that in most of the cases, children go missing due to reasons like being scolded by parents at home, academic pressure, losing their way, elopement, etc.

Crime Branch made sustained effort to identify whether organised gangs were behind the kidnapping of children. However, no such gang was found to be active in the city.