New Delhi- The Supreme Court on Tuesday voiced concern over a news report that claimed that every eight minutes, a child goes missing in the country, and described it as a serious issue.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan said the adoption process in the country is complicated and asked the Centre to streamline the mechanism.

“I have read in a newspaper that every eight minutes, a child goes missing in the country. I don't know if this is true or not. But this is a serious issue,” Justice Nagarathna observed orally.

The top court remarked that as the adoption process is rigorous, it is bound to be flouted and people go for illegal means to have children.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, sought six weeks time for appointing a nodal officer to handle cases of missing children.

The apex court, however, refused to grant six weeks and asked the ASG to complete the process by December 9.

On October 14, the bench had directed the Union government to instruct all States and Union territories to depute a nodal officer to handle cases of missing children and to provide their names and contact details for publication on the Mission Vatsalya portal operated by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

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