‘Use facial recognition tech to trace missing children’

HYDERABAD: Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi urged the Centre to utilise facial recognition technique to trace missing children, and asked the authorities to not delay the same citing the excuse that it’s a costly affair. He delivered a lecture at the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj in Hyderbad on Tuesday.

“Of the 1.25 lakh children missing in the country, about 1 lakh are living in homes run for children across the country. They have not been identified and put in a database,” he said. “If the technology is used, many of them living in orphanages might be recognised when compared with the list of missing children and can be returned to families.”

While the Centre has been delaying the usage of the technology citing its cost, the Supreme Court has already suggested that unused hundreds of crores in Nirbhaya Funds be utilised for the purpose.
Speaking on the Protection of  Children From Sexual Offences Act, Satyarthi said that about 94 per cent of cases filed under the Act are pending in courts.

“In most cases, the abused child might become a senior citizen by the time justice is delivered,” he said, adding that exclusive courts are needed at district levels to deal with POCSO cases. He has recommended the same to government. He has also recommended the formation of an exclusive tribunal to deal with POCSO cases on the lines of the National Green Tribunal.

“A committee should be formed at national level with sub-committees in States. It should be a quasi-judicial body headed by a former Chief Justice of India and other Supreme Court judges who have experience in child rights issues,” he said.

Satyarthi  also said that he had submitted to the Ministry of Human Resources  Development that age-appropriate sex education and lessons on child  rights should be part of the school curriculum so that the students are  empowered to protect themselves.