Section 32. Mandatory reporting regarding a child found separated from guardian

32. Mandatory reporting regarding a child found separated from guardian.— (1) Any individual or a police officer or any functionary of any organisation or a nursing home or hospital or maternity home, who or which finds and takes charge, or is handed over a child who appears or claims to be abandoned or lost, or a child who appears or claims to be an orphan without family support, shall within twenty-four hours (excluding the time necessary for the journey), 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 hand over the child to a child care institution registered under this Act, as the case may be. 1[(2) The information regarding a child referred to in sub-section (1) shall be uploaded by the Committee or the District Child Protection Unit or the child care institution, as the case may be, on a portal as may be specified by the Central Government in this behalf.] 1. Subs. by Act 23 of 2021, s. 10, for sub-section (2) (w.e.f. 1-9-2022).