One in every eight missing kids in India from Madhya Pradesh: NCRB 2024 report

Special Correspondent

NewsBits.in

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh has emerged as one of India’s most critical child protection hotspots, accounting for nearly one in every eight missing children in the country.

In the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report for 2024, the state reported 19,131 missing children, the second highest in India, contributing 13% of the national total. The total number of missing children in India in 2024 was 1, 47,175, including transgender children, out of which 111271 were girls.

Madhya Pradesh recorded a sharp rise of 19.44% in the missing kids’ cases in a year as 16,017 missing children were reported in 2023, an in-depth analysis of NCRB done by CRY- Child Rights and You shows. The analysis was released on the eve of International Missing Children's Day (May 25).

National trend suggests that missing children increased by 6.2% between 2023 and 2024, rising from 1,38,609 to 1,47,175.

While acknowledging the efforts made by the state government, the Regional Director at CRY – Child Rights and You, Soha Moitra has also expressed concern over the rising number of missing children.

It is encouraging to see the state taking steps to improve reporting and tracing of missing children. At the same time, the rise in cases– particularly the sharp increase (22 per cent) in missing girls in just one year– is deeply concerning. As per the latest data, on an average 42 girls go missing every day in Madhya Pradesh, which is a stark reminder that many children, especially girls, remain vulnerable. This becomes all the more worrying, as many of such cases are often linked with trafficking,” she said.

Nearly 80% of children who went missing in Madhya Pradesh are girls

The missing children crisis in Madhya Pradesh traditionally has a strong gender angle, CRY analysis shows. Of the total number of missing children, 15,282 are girls, accounting for nearly eight out of 10 missing children in the state.

This trend is consistent with 2023, where girls accounted for 78.3% of all missing children, indicating no significant shift. This places Madhya Pradesh among the top states nationally for missing girls and points to heightened vulnerabilities faced by adolescent girls.

Indore and Bhopal Lead in Missing Children Cases

District-level data from the NCRB highlights a concentration of cases in key urban centres. Indore reported the highest number of missing children at 1,124, with the majority of cases emerging from Indore Commissionerate (861), indicating a significant urban burden, followed by Indore Rural (261) and Indore Railways (2). Bhopal reported the second highest number with 726 cases, including 654 under Bhopal Commissionerate, 64 in Bhopal Rural, and 8 in Railways. Other high-burden districts include Jabalpur (613), Sagar (571), Dhar (487), and Khargone (467), pointing to a mix of urban and vulnerable districts contributing to the overall trend.

Nearly 5,000 Children Remain Untraced

Despite ongoing efforts, 4,886 children in Madhya Pradesh remain untraced in 2024, nearly unchanged from 4,835 in 2023, indicating a persistent backlog of unresolved cases. The state recorded a tracing rate of 74.5% in 2024, up from 69.8% in 2023, showing improved efficiency. However, the rising number of missing children means that absolute untraced numbers remain high, highlighting that recovery systems, while improving, are still not keeping pace with the scale of the crisis.

Backlog of Missing Cases Continues to Grow

The crisis is further compounded by a backlog of unresolved cases. In 2024, while 14,296 children were newly reported missing, the total rises to 19,131 when previous years’ untraced cases are included.

A similar pattern was observed in 2023, where 75.5% of cases were newly reported and 24.5% were backlog cases, indicating that the structure of the problem remains unchanged over time, with a steady inflow of new cases alongside a persistent pool of unresolved cases.

This indicates that a significant number of children remain missing over extended periods, pointing to systemic challenges in long-term tracking and case resolution.

The Need for a Stronger Response

Emphasizing the need to strengthen the safety net within communities, Moitra said, “The findings clearly point to the need for a more comprehensive and sustained response strengthening preventive systems for adolescent girls, improving tracking of long-term missing cases, and ensuring stronger coordination between police and child protection systems. A gender-responsive approach is critical, given the disproportionate impact on girls.”

She further added “At CRY, we are working closely with communities to strengthen local safety nets for children, especially at the village and panchayat levels. Through initiatives like BalPrahari, where children themselves come together as collectives, we are creating awareness and vigilance around issues such as missing children, trafficking, child labour and child marriage. At the same time, by strengthening processes like Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) and promoting child-friendly villages, we are supporting panchayats to maintain data on vulnerable families and children. This helps ensure early identification of risks and a more preventive, community-led response.”