Every eight minutes, a child goes missing in India, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. Many of these children are trafficked—deceived, exploited, and sold into forced labour, sexual exploitation, or other forms of abuse. Odisha remains one of the states affected by this grave crime, with children from vulnerable communities being trafficked every day.
To address this crisis, Ruchika has launched a dedicated Anti-Child Trafficking Programme, founded on the belief that child trafficking can only be effectively prevented through timely identification and rescue of victims, rigorous investigation and prosecution of traffickers, and comprehensive rehabilitation and reintegration of survivors. With the support of Just Rights for Children, the programme is being implemented across five districts of Odisha—Puri, Khordha, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, and Subarnapur—to protect children, strengthen justice systems, and ensure every child grows up in safety and dignity.
| District | Year | No. of Child Rescued | No. of cases filed (Police Station) | No. of Cases filed (Labour Dept.) | No. of cases produced in CWC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Khordha | 23-24 | 53 | 36 | 53 | 53 |
| 24-25 | 95 | 88 | 72 | 72 | |
| 25-26 | 123 | 76 | 68 | 123 | |
| Puri | 23-24 | 61 | 50 | 50 | 61 |
| 24-25 | 100 | 91 | 60 | 98 | |
| 25-26 | 91 | 84 | 48 | 84 | |
| Jagatsinghpur | 24-25 | 58 | 56 | 25 | 25 |
| 25-26 | 58 | 54 | 54 | 54 | |
| Jajpur | 24-25 | 66 | 61 | 45 | 45 |
| 25-26 | 63 | 63 | 47 | 63 |