Odisha CM reports over 13,000 missing persons untraced

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi reported that police traced 7,048 of 20,060 missing persons from June 2024 to February 2025. He noted challenges include late reporting by families and individuals leaving without notice. Majhi highlighted that elopement and reluctance to share information also complicate investigations. The state has launched the Mission Vatsalya portal to help locate missing persons and plans to use facial recognition technology for identifying missing children. He mentioned issues with child welfare committees not uploading data on children in care, which hinders identification efforts. The government is proposing funding to enhance resources for anti-human trafficking units and police operations.