Maharashtra CM Fadnavis revealed success in rescuing missing children and women in the legislative assembly under Operation Muskan and Operation Shodh
| Photo Credit: ANI
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday (July 16, 2025) revealed in the legislative assembly that, under Operation Muskan, 41,193 children were rescued and 4,960 missing women were traced, and 1,364 missing children were traced within a month under Operation Shodh.
Calling the issue of missing women a reality, Mr. Fadnavis stated that in one month from April to May, 4960 missing women were traced and came across 106 women and 703 children, who were missing, but the case was registered.
Responding to the question of MLC state legislative council Ambadas Danve, Mr. Fadnavis said, “We are yet to effectively work on this issue, and yet to tap into the issue from the social angle. However, we will also include the missing person issue in “Police Kaka” and “Police Didi”, which campaign for good touch-bad touch and other initiatives.”
Mr. Danve suggested that the government conduct a social study to understand the cause, rather than treating it as a job. “There are hotspots from where women go missing; these areas lack visible policing. The impact on ground level is only possible if it is seen as a social responsibility. Besides, these issues are to be seen from social angles, including child marriage and sexual violence,” he added.
The issue of missing women was raised in the assembly after Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Sunil Shinde asked for the status of the proposal to ‘Track missing women’.
“All states are connected to the Centre’s missing women portal. The progress will be used to file a consolidated report,” Mr. Fadnavis responded.
Citing Nagpur’s case, Mr. Fadnavis said, “5897 women were missing, out of which 5210 were traced. This means 90% of the cases were traced. However, a problem arises in 4 to 5% of cases, which goes on the back burner.”
To resolve this issue, Mr. Fadnavis has asked to establish a missing cell at each police station to keep track of these cases and an IPS-level officer to review the work every two months.
Published – July 17, 2025 05:23 am IST
