20,112 missing kids reunited with families in Maharashtra: Minister Ranjit Patil

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More than 20,000 missing children were located and reunited with their families in Maharashtra under an initiative launched by the government; the Legislative Assembly was informed today.

Minister of State for Home Ranjit Patil said 20,112 missing children were rescued and handed over to their families under "Operation Muskan". Speaking during a discussion on a calling attention notice, he said CCTV cameras would be set up in localities reporting missing cases.

The focus would be on slum areas where a large number of minor girls reside, he told the Lower House. The calling attention notice was moved by Sunil Prabhu (Shiv Sena) who said incidents of children and women going missing are on the rise in Mumbai.

The minister said between 2014 and 2016, 32,598 people up to the age of 60 years went missing. Of these, 29,505 were traced. Patil said in order to trace missing persons, all police stations in Mumbai have been given Standing Operating Procedure (SOP) to be followed.

As per Supreme Court directives, a kidnapping offence in filed in case a child under the age of 18 goes missing. If such children are not traced within four months of filing of the case, the matter is transferred to the Anti- Human Trafficking Unit of the police, the minister said.

Replying to another calling attention notice that highlighted the problems faced by senior citizens, Social Justice Minister Rajkumar Badole said the age at which a person is classified as a senior citizen has been lowered to 60 from 65 earlier.

The government has launched several schemes for the welfare of senior citizens, he said. Opposition members were not satisfied with the reply
and demanded that the notice be withheld, a request accepted by Speaker Haribhau Bagde.

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