By Mahima Devkota, Kathmandu, Apr. 18: A recent updated report of National Child Rights Council (NCRC) has revealed that 53.4 per cent of missing children have united with family this year so far.

According to the data of the NCRC under the Ministry of Woman, Children and Senior Citizens, a total 2,832 children, 662 boys and 2,170 girls, went missing in the last 9 months of this fiscal year 2020/21.

Ram Bahadur Chand, communication officer at the NCRC, said that out of total missing, 1,513 children, 364 boys and 1,149 girls, have been found and reunified with their family, accounting for 53.4 per cent of total missing in the last 9 months of this fiscal year.

He said that the data of the found children is similar to the trend of previous years, but NCRC deals with the issues of children with sensitivity, mainly with parents, to mitigate or find the permanent solution to the matter.

As per the data, a total of 280 children from Province 1, 305 of Province 2, 365 of Bagmati Province, 252 of Gandaki Province, 146 of Lumbini Province, 78 of Karnali Province and 87 of Sudurpaschim Province have been found in current fiscal year.

Namuna Bhusal, program officer at the NCRC, said "We can see a slight increase and decrease in number, but the ratio of the rescued children in line with the data of previous years. Sometimes parents fail to inform us after locating their children, sometimes there are some mishaps." said Bhusal. 

A total of 2219 children were recused of the total 2729 missing children in the last fiscal year 2019/20.

A year earlier than that, a total of 2,540 (825 boys and 1,715 girls) were found out of 3,422 children (1051 boys, 2371 girls) in the fiscal year 2018/19.