Guwahati (Assam): An alarming statistics has come to light about the disappearance of children with as many as 3,779 kids going missing in Assam in the last two years, as per the latest data presented in the state Assembly.
The startling data has come to fore as Congress MLA Bhaskar Jyoti Baruah had asked a written question on Tuesday during the ongoing budget session of the assembly, raising questions about prevention of child marriage, child abuse, child trafficking.
"How many children who have lost their homes in the last three years have been recorded in the departmental list? What is the number of children found? Does the government have any information about their settlement?" Baruah asked.
In his reply, the Minister for Women and Child Development, Naba Doley said that from 2021 to 2023, the total number of children lost from home is a whopping 3,779. Of them, 3,419 children have been rescued and handed over to the family with proper parental address.
The children without family or address are provided with, health and education and also provided shelter on the recommendation of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) of the respective district.
A total of 474 children, who were rescued between January and December 2023, were produced before the CWC of the respective districts and handed over to their families.
Baruah also asked, "How many cases of child abuse have been registered under POCSO Act, 2012 between the years 2021 - 2023? How many Fast Track Courts have been constituted to manage the above cases and how many Cases have been disposed of?"
In response to this question Doley informed that 6,054 cases have been registered under POCSO Act, 2012 between 2021 and 2023. Out of them, 3,522 cases have already been disposed of.
Replying to another question on child marriage in the house, Doley said that the State Child Protection Committee has not yet prepared a State Action Plan to prevent child marriages, but has taken several measures to prevent them.
The minister also told the house that an anti-human trafficking unit has been set up in every district of Assam to prevent the incident of child trafficking. Steps have been taken to set up Special Juvenile Police Units to prevent child trafficking cases especially in border districts.
Between 2020 and 2023, more or less every district has witnessed child trafficking but cases in Kamrup, Udalguri, Sonitpur, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur and Biswanath districts have been relatively high, the minister said.
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