(1) Any individual or a nursing home or hospital or maternity home, who or which finds a child who appears, or is claimed, to be abandoned or lost, or a child who is or is claimed to be an orphan without family support, shall give information to the Childline Services or the nearest police station or to a Child Welfare Committee or to the District Child Protection Unit, or where no such unit exists, to the nearest hospital or to a nursing home within twenty-four hours of such finding, as the case may be.
(2) The information and direction shall be disseminated by Childline Services and local police.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 32
Section 32 of the Act mandates compulsory reporting of any child found separated from their guardian, obligating any individual, hospital, or police officer finding an abandoned or lost child to report the matter to the Childline, police, or CWC within twenty-four hours.
Hospitals and maternity homes must establish a standard operating procedure: whenever an infant is abandoned at the facility, send formal written and electronic intimations to the local CWC and Childline within twenty-four hours to comply with Section 32.