The Punjab Governor and Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh, Gen. (Retd.) S.F. Rodrigues, Thursday launched an unique programme "Website for missing children search home link",  www.missingchildsearch.net.

This partnership project, under the aegis of Chandigarh’s Child Protection Programme, is dedicated to locating and reuniting missing children with their families. It will be jointly run by the Don Bosco Forum for young at risk Navjeevan Center, New Delhi with its Chandigarh partner, the Don Bosco Navjeevan Center and the Chandigarh Administration.

Rodrigues said that  problem of child abuse is of vast magnitude, which requires joint huge effort and a collective endeavour at all levels, with pro-active role of all individuals.  He lamented that despite claims, at different levels, in regard to  buoyancy in our economy and growth rate, we have about 390 million people earning Rs. 20 per day and 260 million people living below the poverty line in our country. We have, therefore, to introspect & identify the inadequacies in our systems and take corrective measures for improving our institutional delivery services, with the focus on Child Welfare.

General Rodrigues said that Chandigarh Administration has already set up a Juvenile Home with all support structures for the needy children. He said that we are shortly launching the construction of a Home for 1000 street children, equipped with all facilities of their nourishment, vocational training and rehabilitation needs. He said that the education city being set up in the City has all the concepts and programmes for the growth & all round development of our people.

Krishna Mohan, Home Secretary, UT, while giving the highlights of the project said that Missing Child Search is a web based application for tracing and reinstating missing children with their families.  It is a service for children in difficult situations. Saving the child from the street and supporting him in his struggles is the central theme of the Missing Child Search concept. He said that this website will assist the child’s family in lodging a complaint and tracing the child at the earliest.  It is not merely a website or software, it functions through a nation-wide net work called the Home Link Network (HLK).

The website www.missingchildsearch.net (MCS) provides network support for Missing Child Search.  This website is the public face of the programme, Homelink Network, reaching out to the child who is lost, and to the parents/guardians who are in search of their child. Now Chandigarh city will also be a part of this unique programme from today onwards. He also gave a detailed account of the status of children at the national level and steps being made for improving their lot.

A power presentation given on the website envisages that Homelink is a network that includes 65 cities consisting of 13 States.

 The MCS website and software are the key tools used in the network that helps the missing child easier and faster. Any parents or relative of the missing child could register an online missing child complaint and MCS team will try to match the complaints with the existing data bank of children found or the complaint will be made available with free of cost all over India. The online missing child complaints could be accessed by any of the partner organizations through out India when ever they open the website.