Abstract

As rightly said by Jawaharlal Nehru “children are like buds in the garden and should be carefully and lovingly nurtured as they are the future of the nation and citizens of tomorrow”, children surely are the asset of the nation. According to UNICEF‟s “The State of the World’s Children,” report for 2006, one-third of the world’s children lack adequate shelter, 31% lack basic sanitation and 21% have no access to clean, potable water. Illness, malnutrition, and premature death are common when children lack the most basic protection. NCRB’s (National Crime Report Bureau) annual report “Crime in India” , states that 83,350 children (20,380 male, 62,946 female and 24 transgender) were reported missing last year. Further, a total of 80,561 children (20,254 male, 60,281 female and 26 transgender) were recovered or traced. NCRB figures for the five years up to 2022 show a mostly rising trend in the figures of missing children — a spike of 7.5 per cent in 2022 in comparison to 2021, a significant surge of 30.8 per cent in 2021 against 2020. This is a major concern for the whole nation, the safety of its children, the tomorrow of the country is not safe and secure in their environment. To terminate this heartless apathy and unease concerning the safeguarding of minors, it is vital to take immediate actions and preventative measures to avoid such heinous crimes. This research paper is divided into 3 chapter. The first chapter will be dealing with legal framework in India regarding the addressal of the issue of missing children and its comparative analysis with the legal framework of other countries. The second chapter will take into account the enforcement of the laws and the challenges faced, the roles of NGOs including Search My Child Foundation. The third and the last chapter will be dealing with preventive and immediate actions that should be taken, how NGOs and governmental bodies can work together to reap maximum benefit including the conclusion of the paper.

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