Operation Smile or Operation Muskaan is an initiative of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to rescue/rehabilitate missing children. It is a dedicated annual campaign where several activities are taken up by State Police Personnel to trace and rescue missing children and reunite them with their families.
Several police personnel all over the country participate in this campaign. A team of police officers along with two senior police officials and dozens of police constables are part of the Operation to help trace the missing children in their jurisdiction.
What started as a Central Government initiative has been taken up by respective State Governments as well. The success of Operation Smile 1 has encouraged the cops to launch Operation Smile 2.
Navi Mumbai
The Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, in coordination with the local police, traced 142 missing minors during Operation Smile-2, held during the entire month of January 2016.
Then Police Commissioner of Navi Mumbai, Prabhat Ranjan said that out of 158 missing minors, 12 boys and 27 girls were traced. “We have given custody of 17 child labourers and 31 orphans to the Child Welfare Committee. We also traced the parents of six minors accommodated at shelter homes prior to 2010.” He added that five minors, who went missing in January 2016, have been traced, while 43 minors who were found loitering at public places were reunited with their parents.
Mumbai Police
At least 1544 children were reported missing in 2015. Mumbai Police also conducted Operation Smile 2 and rescued 1218 juveniles in January 2015, of which, 908 were girls. 326 juveniles are yet to be traced.
“For the past several years, complaints on missing children has been one of the most important issues for us. The numbers of missing children are increasing. We collected all the missing complaint details from different police stations and decided to trace the most number of kids during Operation Smile 2,” said a police officer attached to this operation.
A team of police officials is always ready to look after such missing cases. There are diverse reasons why children go missing from their hometowns. The two main reasons being that they are either kidnapped or misled and lured to earn money.
Thane (Rural) Police
The second edition of Operation Smile was launched on New Year’s Day 2016 by the Thane (Rural) Police.
Based on Central Government directives, a review of missing children was taken during a prelaunch workshop conducted in Thane, where police personnel in the presence of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and NGOs were instructed about the strategies to be adopted in making the drive a success.
As per statistics obtained from the Thane (Rural) Police – 2004, children (772 boys and 1232 girls)were reported missing/kidnapped in the past five years (from 2011 to 2015). 1925 children were traced even as 79 (36 boys and 43 girls) continue to remain untraceable. By reuniting 235 lost/kidnapped children with their families in the first edition of the Operation (July 2014), the Thane(Rural) Police has found place amongst the top five police forces in the State for their excellent performance in this endeavour.
With the Anti-Human Trafficking Wing (AHTW) at the helm of affairs, the operating team under the supervision of the Superintendent Police and 13 dedicated police personnel intensified their vigilance. The month long drive envisages checking small children at railway stations, bus depots, marketplaces, religious places, juvenile shelter homes and even those found begging to ascertain whether they have drifted away from their kin. Cops also took help of the Ministry of Women and Child Development’s Missing Child Tracking Portal which has proved effective in screening and locating missing children.
Operation Smile – The Beginning
The present Union Government’s initiative is based on a successful operation titled “Operation Smile” taken up by the Ghaziabad Police, Uttar Pradesh during September 2014. As part of the operation, 227 missing children of Ghaziabad were rescued from different parts of the country in just one month.
Salient Features of Operation Smile·
Approximately 100 plus police officers of various ranks were sensitised and trained on issues related to missing children’s Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) JJ Act, Protection of Child Right Act, relevant sections of Cr.PC & IPC and Advisories issued by MHA etc.·
The trained officers visited various parts of the country to recover missing children in connection with various FIRs lodged at police stations in Ghaziabad.·
One of the major findings was that children residing in shelter homes, on railway platforms, at bus stands and religious places and on the roads, etc. were part of the missing children.
Support of print and electronic media were also used to share information on missing children. Police personnel from respective places as well as parents approached the Ghaziabad Police to get their children back.
Actions Taken
- Children residing in shelter homes, platforms, bus stands, roads, religious places, etc. are to be screened by trained police personnel.
- Before the Operation, police personnel from each State are properly trained in methodology to extract information from such children tactfully without intimidating them. They are also acquainted with the various provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) JJ Act, Protection of Child Right Act, relevant sections of Cr.PC & IPC and Advisories issued by MHA etc.
- To know the magnitude of the problem, data with full details of number of cases of missing children are maintained and shared at Intra- State and Inter- State level. Information about Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) are prepared and shared among all rescue teams and stakeholders.
- During the Operation, the particulars of such identified children will be uploaded on the ‘Missing Child’ portal of the Ministry of Women and Child Development by the respective State Police.
- Rehabilitation measures, whenever needed, are taken up in coordination with the other line Departments like Department of Women & Child Development, Police, Labour, etc so that scope of revictimization is eliminated.
- Public awareness is increased by way of national campaign, advertisement on national media, etc.
Past Operation Smile Campaigns and their Outcomes
Earlier, all States/UTs were advised to take up a one month campaign titled ‘Operation Smile’ in the month of January 2015 to rescue/rehabilitate the missing children. Similarly, another dedicated campaign titled ‘Operation Muskaan’ was launched in the month of July 2015 throughout the country.
The States have so far reported that 9146 children under Operation ‘Smile’ and 19,742 children under Operation “Muskaan” were rescued/rehabilitated. A large number of missing children have been reunited with their families which is a remarkable achievement made by the field officers. In order to motivate the policemen to take up such causes with sincerity and empathy, 44 Police Officers from different States/UTs who had played a commendable role during Operation “Smile” in January 2015 were recognized and rewarded by the Union Home Ministry.
Source-PIB-www.vikaspideia.in
– by Mohit Naik
