10 missing minors found at railway stations every day

On an average, 10 missing minors are found every day at railway stations in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane, railway police officers said on Monday.

Since last year, the Maharashtra Police are running campaigns to reunite missing children with their families, as part of a nationwide effort under the aegis of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Operation Smile II

While the police launched the first drive, Operation Smile, in January 2015, and then Operation Muskaan in July 2015, the next phase of the campaign, Operation Smile II, was launched in January this year.

From January to April this year, the Railway Police found 1,118 boys and 448 girls at various railway stations in the Mumbai Suburban District, comprising Mumbai and Thane and Navi Mumbai.

Of these, 1,046 boys and 435 girls were reunited with their families as part of the drive, while the rest of them have been handed over to Children’s Homes after securing the relevant court orders, officials said.

Railway Police Commissioner Madhukar Pandey said: “In most cases, the children have been stranded on platforms due to the immense rush on Mumbai’s railway stations. Majority cases have come from Mumbai Central, Dadar, Borivali, Thane and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST). About 6,000 people pass through Churchgate and CST every minute during peak hours. This should give an indication of the kind of difficulties we face when a child is stranded.”

Officials said that the biggest challenge is to first trace the lost child among the sea of travellers, and then to calm down and reassure the child.

It is only after this that the police get down to asking the child about his parents, and address. In a lot of cases, children as young as five and six years of age are unable to give a proper address, making the job all the more challenging.

For Operation Smile II, the Railway Police created special teams, which were deployed at every Railway Police station to deal with missing minors. “The personnel selected for Operation Smile II have a significant number of women because we have observed that young children are more comfortable opening up to women,” said Mr Pandey.

90 per cent locals

The police said that while 90 per cent of the minors are local residents, those that are from other locations are either runaways who have boarded the first train they saw to get away from home due to issues with their families, or those who simply wanted to see the city of Mumbai. A small percentage of the missing minors are teens who decide to elope and run away together, officials said.

During Operation Muskaan last year, the Railway Police had reunited 861 boys and 291 girls with their families.