So serious is the problem that a monumental study into "Trafficking in Women and Children in India" has suggested the formation of a National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.

"Efforts to locate the missing persons cannot be handled in a haphazard and ad hoc manner. It is obvious that police agencies have not been able to rescue and retrieve several thousands of missing women and children," said the study, researched by the Institute of Social Sciences here with funding from USAID.

According to the study, the number of women and children going missing in India every year are 22,480 and 44,476 respectively.

The percentage of the increase in women missing in some regions is phenomenal. It is as high as 185 percent in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 150 in Arunachal Pradesh, 32 in Andhra Pradesh, 55 in Assam, 77 in Gujarat, 83 in Haryana and 99 percent in Uttar Pradesh.

The average number of children missing every year in Maharashtra is 13,881, followed by Delhi (6,227), Madhya Pradesh (4,915), Tamil Nadu (4,618), Karnataka (3,600), Andhra Pradesh (2,007) and Gujarat (1,624).

The study said: "It is bewildering to note that in India, on an average, 44,476 children go missing every year and of these 11,008 children remain untraced annually. Where these children are is a serious question to consider.

In several areas, this percentage of increase was very high. It was 1,000 percent in the Andamans and Nicobar Islands, 883 in Arunachal Pradesh, 78 in Andhra Pradesh, 151 in Assam, 83 in Chhattisgarh, 80 in Gujarat, 142 in Haryana, 194 in Tamil Nadu and 300 percent in Tripura.

The study added that the number of children going missing was steadily on the rise in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. The same was true for women too in these cities barring Kolkata.

Although the number of female adults reported missing in Kolkata declined consistently, the number of missing children in the city was the highest in comparison with the other cities.

"In most of the states the percentage of untraced persons continued to increase every year."

This showed, the study said, that the efficiency of locating missing persons had steadily diminished every year.

"The issue of missing persons needs to be seriously considered by law enforcement agencies," it said. "There needs to be proper documentation and monitoring of the complaints.

"It is obvious that police agencies have not been able to rescue and retrieve several thousands of missing women and children. The resources and time at their command are limited and above all, the issue of missing persons has not been sensitively handled."

The study said efforts to locate missing persons needed to be synergised so that the various partners worked in a concerted, coordinated and integrated manner.

"This requires the utilization of advanced technologies, skills and training. No doubt, this calls for appropriate attitudinal changes," it said, suggesting the formation of a National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children with functional links between government and non-governmental agencies across India.

"The experience in the anti-trafficking movement in India has shown that many corporates are willing to support public causes and provide funds for setting up and effectively running such a centre.

"Perhaps, a union of government agencies, non-governmental agencies and corporates is the call of the hour in addressing the issue of missing women and children in India."