Ministry of Women and Child Development has developed a Standard Operating Procedure for tracing of missing children. The Supreme Court had in 2005 observed that there are many Standard Operating Procedures, SOPs, developed by states to trace out missing children.
The Apex Court had directed the Ministry to take help of Tata Institute of Social Sciences to compile a model SOP which may be used by all States and Union Territories to deal with cases of missing children and to follow a uniform procedure throughout the country.
The SOP defines roles and responsibilities of various stake holders such as Police, Child Welfare Committees, and Juvenile Justice Boards. The objective is to work in coordination with stakeholders and respond with urgency to issues of missing child, and create awareness.
