It is a very shocking revelation. When the clock completes one full circle in Odisha, as many as eighteen girl children go missing. The shocker is 15 of them go untraced forever. Consider this. As per the latest State Crime Branch data available, from 2011 to 2014 (up to June), as high as 6,300 odd missing girl children were registered.
Of which around 1,300 only could be traced putting the tracing rate at a national low of 27-28 per cent against the all India average of around 50 per cent. The first half of 2014 was no better as of the over 500 missing girl children only 170 odd were traced. The State's track record in tracing missing boys is equally dismal. From 2011 to June 2014, a total of 2,400 odd boys go missing and the traced ones totalled to mere 732 and tracing rate is almost equal to that of girl child.
A post mortem of the missing girl children data suggests that the burden was borne by 8-10 districts only. Similarly, around 13 districts in the State bear the burden of the missing boys. Keonjhar registers maximum cases of girl child missing followed by Bhadrak, Jharsuguda, Angul, Ganjam and Jajpur, among others. In case of missing boys, Sambalpur leads the pack followed by Keonjhar, Jharsuguda, Bhadrak and Angul.
Though the missing children are considered as those below 18-year-old, maximum cases of missing female child are from the age-group of 15-18 years only reveals the data. The trend observed is State's mining belt and the Jajpur-Bhadrak corridor accounts for maximum such cases, and these are the vulnerable pockets where brokers are on the prowl who even go for exporting female teens to gulf countries, revealed a senior police official.
Child rights activists blame it on State administration's insensitivity. Activist Ranjan Mohanty blamed district administration for not making any strategy to crack down such brokers. Expressing reservations, he said a Bachpan Bachao Andolan study has found widespread discrepancies in the figures cited by the Crime Branch and added that the figures did not include missing cases registered by the Government Railway Police (GRP).
However, the fact is the State is yet to adopt any Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) regarding missing children unlike in Delhi. The Supreme Court has recently summoned the State Chief Secretary in this regard. State DGP Sanjeev Marik, however, differs with the observation. He said the State police have issued strict instructions for recording all missing reports and ensuring subsequent follow-up action to track the missing child.
The organised crime unit in CID/CB headed by an IG rank official keeps a close tab on human trafficking and at the district level such units are headed by DSP rank officials. Sishu desks now operate in over 60 per cent of total police stations in the State. Even, the NHRC has praised the best practices adopted by the State pertaining to the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in 2002, he added.
The reality, however, is the State has somewhat a sound guideline on paper but the SOP, which the apex court is for, has the incisive teeth to bite. For instance, the SOP asks giving wide publicity about the missing individuals in leading newspapers, TVs and even the local cable networks - not currently adhered to in letter and spirit. Moreover, it advises affixing hue and cry notices in prominent places, railway/bus stations, airports etc and flashing WT message at all India level to all DCPs and SSPs.