Skip to content
Missing Children’s:
- Discrepancies in two government-commissioned surveys, both a year apart, submitted in the Supreme Court show that over two lakh children, said to be residing in childcare homes, are “missing.”
- A 2016-17 survey, commissioned by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, shows that 4.73 lakh children reside in care homes nationwide.
- However, the number of children in care homes came down to 2.61 lakh in the data submitted by the Centre before the Supreme Court in March 2018. The data were gathered by the Centre from the States.
- The Bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur, S. Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta said they found the disparity “very, very disturbing,” and children were not just numbers.
- The amicus curiae said that of the 9,589 childcare institutions across the country, 1,596 were overcrowded and 97 districts were without childcare homes.
- Children were subjected to corporal punishment and other abuse in these homes. The court asked Ministry officials present how many children were missing in the country, besides these two lakhs.
- The Bench proposed to set up oversight committees at the national and State levels to monitor the functioning of childcare homes. Counsel for the Centre sought time to seek instructions on the suggestion.
