Punjab govt launches website to help rescue missing children

LAHORE: The Punjab government has developed a website aimed at assisting the rescue of missing children across the province, Tech Juice reported on Thursday.

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 cooperation of Child Protection and Welfare Bureau.

The initiative has been taken to bring down the alarming increase in cases of child abduction in Punjab. The PITB-developed portal lists identification credentials, the date of rescue, name of the district and city where operation was carried out.

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 programmes for children and train volunteers for disseminating information regarding abductions.

Punjab has recently witnessed a surge in the incidents of disappearance and kidnapping of children.

According to officials, the system will issue a child abduction alert once law-enforcement officials confirm such an incident and if the kidnapping meets their criteria.

The law enforcement agencies will then inform the state officials and broadcasters about the abduction.

Information to the public, which will include photo of the child and his “last seen location”, will then be disseminated through various platforms like mosques, electronic, print and social media, Google child alert, TV screens in public transport, airports, shopping malls, supermarkets, cinemas and railways stations.

The alerts may also include the description of the victim, suspected abductor, number plate of the suspect’s vehicle, if available. There would also be provision in the system for citizens to provide the officials concerned with any piece of information regarding an abducted child.

Depending on the time passed since an abduction, the information will first be routed to authorities at the city level, in the district and finally at the provincial level. Officials manning all the exit points will also get the information right away for checking any suspected person or vehicle.