Punjab government launches website to help reunite recovered children with families
LAHORE – Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) has introduced the website ‘Missing Children Recovery’ to reunite the lost children with their families across the province.
The Punjab Information Technology Board’s (PITB) initiative, Missing Children Recovery, has a database with details of children who have been rescued by the provincial government with the cooperation of Child Protection and Welfare Bureau.
The website has been launched in the wake of an alleged spike in child kidnappings in and around Lahore. Addressing the mass hysteria surrounding the kidnappings, Dr. Haider Ashraf, DIG Operations Lahore Police released a statement on social media, claiming that a total of 767 cases of missing children were reported in the province. Out of these, 603 were runaways who were later recovered and reunited with their families. Another 119 children have since been recovered and only 45 cases remain.
The authorities will get the location information of the child where the public saw him/her at the last time. They will broadcast this information along with the child’s picture, name, some other details to the various platforms. These platforms will include mosques, electronic, print, social media, Google child alert, TV screens in public transport, airports, shopping malls, supermarkets, cinemas, railways stations.
The website also has the feature of sharing the details of the recovered children on Facebook and Twitter. A recovery helpline of 1121 is also placed on the website which is open for 24 hours.
According to the reports, children aged between three – twelve are mysteriously disappearing from their houses. Most of the times, the missing child recovery is not very easy for the police and other law-enforcement agencies.
Some people claim there is a gang behind this offence while other say the criminals are kidnapping the children for the ransom.
How to claim a child?
To claim a child, a person has to come to the Child Protection & Welfare Bureau Punjab with the following documents:
- Original Identity Card.
- Birth Certificate of the child, verified from the concerned Union Council (UC).
- A second person who takes the legal responsibility that you are the real parent/guardian of the child.
How does the system work?
The system has been devised by the Chief Minister’s Special Monitoring Unit (law and order) and the Counter-Terrorism Wing. It will develop online safety programs for children and train volunteers for disseminating information regarding abductions.
The system will issue a child kidnapping notification once law-enforcement officials confirm such an incident and if the kidnapping meets their criteria. Later, the law enforcement agencies will inform the state officials and broadcasters about the abduction.