New Delhi: A report by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) claims that there are 149 children from different states staying in child care institutions (CCI) in Delhi.
The Commission is in the process of making sure that these children reach their respective home states safe and sound, so that the chances of them getting reunited with their families increases.
The child rights body, in its report, claimed that it took up the case of sending missing children to their home states and reunited them with their parents/guardians with the concerned state governments in 2017.
Video conferencing was done with the state governments and based on details received from them, NCPCR found that there are 5,604 children in 5,982 CCIs, who belongs to other states.
The data, recorded till March 22, claims that 149 children from 14 states of India were found to be living in CCIs in the Capital.
"The highest number of children living in CCIs of Delhi is from Haryana, which is more than 30. This is followed by more than 20 children who are from Uttarakhand. Eleven children were from Uttar Pradesh," said the report.
Yashwant Jain, member, NCPCR, stated that the Commission is taking the issue of missing children seriously and wants them to be reunited with their families at the earliest.
"If a missing child is speaking the language of other states, the minor should be handed over to authorities of his native state. Then, chances of the child getting reunited with their family are higher," said Jain
He added that another reason why missing children are sent to their native states is that they feel more comfortable in a familiar environment.
Jain further claimed that the Commission will soon be writing to the concerned state government departments to know what they are doing to for their children living in their respective CCIs.
Moreover, a recent investigation carried out by the child rights body revealed that CCIs in the national Capital were unregistered.
"Unregistered CCIs can violate the rights of children and lead to human trafficking or other kinds of abuse, as the kids living there have no identity and are not in the records of any concerned government agency," said the NCPCR official.