Operation Muskaan-III begins; 6 children rescued from Odisha capital

Cuttack: Operation Muskaan-III, a dedicated campaign launched by Odisha police for rescue and rehabilitation of missing children, made a promising start today with six children being rescued from Khandagiri Square in Bhubaneswar.

The children, engaged as child labourers, were rescued by Childline, District Labour Officer and police, reports said.

They were later sent to an open shelter in Jatani.

The operation will continue for a period of one month starting from today. The campaign, directed by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), shall involve all police districts and will be monitored by the state Crime Branch, informed Crime Branch Special DG BK Sharma.

The first phase of the operation shall focus on rescue of missing children within the state. During the second phase starting from July 31, teams shall be sent to other states for rescue of missing children, Sharma informed.

The campaign shall be personally monitored by district SsP/DCsP and one senior officer in the district shall be the Nodal Officer, he said.

Sharma further said that coordination shall be established with other government departments like Women and Child Development & Labour and active involvement of district magistrates would be sought.

Active participation of NGOs, PR representatives, social activists etc shall be sought for information sharing for the success of the campaign, he added.

Notably, a total of 2610 missing children (2271 boys and 339 girls) were rescued during Operation Muskan-II in 2016.

Appropriate steps were taken for restoration of the children to their families for reunion. They were also linked to different government schemes for their rehabilitation, whenever required.