Now, log on to khoyapaya to trace missing children

 Appalled over the disappearance of at least 11 children every hour from across the country, the government on Tuesday launched a web portal for people to directly report, track and upload information on missing children.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development, in collaboration with the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, launched the website, www.khoyapaya.gov.in. The portal will answer all queries as to what action is to be taken when a child goes missing.

The website has three sections -- my child is missing, I have sighted a child and search a missing child. It will work as an enabling platform where people can report missing children and also sightings of their whereabouts. The website will also inform on children who are rescued. Reports on missing children can be registered on the website through text, photograph, video, etc.

Explaining the concept, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said: “There is already a portal under the Home Ministry – TrackChild – which looks into this area, but here only the police communicate with the public. So, TrackChild is a limited platform, whereas the new portal – <g data-gr-id="47">khoyapaya</g> - will be accessible to all. It is meant for locating, reporting and sighting a missing child in the country. Also, if there is a parent whose child has gone missing, then s/he can log on to this website, upload the child’s details and the picture and the portal will help them locate their child. 

This app will be free to download and will be launched in regional languages as well.” When asked on its the collaboration with the Railway Ministry on tracing missing children, which Millennium Post had reported on March 14 (‘Railways help sought on missing children: Maneka), the Minister said: “It is a good idea that the data accumulated from various sources, including information tabulated by the Railways, can be linked to this website and app, expanding the information base.”

She added that as per the information provided by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), around 70,000 children go missing every year. In 2010 and 2011, it was 77,000 and 90,000, respectively. While in 2012 and 2013, 65,000 children went missing. The total number of children rescued from January 2012 to April 2015 is 23,597. According to TrackChild, from January 2012 to April 2015 73,597 children were rescued.

Gandhi stressed that a citizen-based website to search children help locating missing children in real time.

Also present with her at the launch was Communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. He talked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for a ‘Digital India’, which is essentially focused on uplifting the poor and the underprivileged.