Aadhaar database helps lost children rescued from Delhi streets reunite with families

Of about 13 children rescued from Delhi streets over the past three months, seven have been reunited with their families with the help of Aadhaar database.

A group of children in the national Capital, who were rescued from the streets, were reunited with their respective families after authorities matched their fingerprints using the Aadhaar database, an official from the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) said.

New Delhi, India, July 24, 2013 :: Employees mark their attendance through Aadhaar based System in the Planning Commission. The system is installed at the enters of the main Yojana Bhawan building on Wednesday, July 24, 2013 (Photo by Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times) story pics for Chetan Chauhan

Over the past three months, officials of the child right’s body have rescued about 13 children, aged between 6 and 14 years, from the city. The children, who had gone missing from different states across the country, did not remember which place they belonged to.

Of these, seven have been reunited with their families while others are currently places at child care institutions till their families are traced.

“We found these children from different areas in the city during our ongoing exercise of mapping children in street situations. We found that they did not have their families here and had been missing from their homes. When we took their biometrics so as to issue an identity proof, their fingerprints matched with the Aadhaar card issued to them in their home states, such as Bihar and Haryana,” said a DCPCR member.

While the children were placed at a shelter home, they could not recall the place they had gone missing from or any such detail that could help establish contact with their families. The children belong to low-income households such as those of daily wage labourers and domestic helps and were found indulging in substance abuse and begging on the streets.

Out of those who were reunited with their parents, two were children with special needs, belonged to Palwal and Panipat districts of Haryana.

“The project of mapping children in street situations and getting their identity proofs made has helped in a constructive way for many children who had gone missing. Besides, with this exercise, we aim to enrol these children into schools or other institutions such as those for skill training,” said Ramesh Negi, chairperson, DCPCR.

The commission has issued Aadhaar cards to as many as 7,000 children found in street situations across three city districts – north, south and central – over the last six months. The commission aims to take this number up to 85,000 by 2020.