India Launches ‘Raksha’, AI Tool to Combat Child Trafficking and Online Abuse

New Delhi: In a major step towards strengthening child protection systems, India has launched ‘Raksha’, a first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform aimed at combating child trafficking, child marriage and online sexual exploitation of children.

The technology-driven tool was unveiled by Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT and Commerce & Industry, Jitin Prasada, at the Prosperity Futures: Child Safety Tech Summit – a pre-event to the upcoming India-AI Impact Summit 2026, scheduled from February 16 to 20, 2026.

The summit was organised by Just Rights for Children (JRC) in partnership with India Child Protection and in affiliation with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Developed by Just Rights for Children, Raksha uses advanced AI analytics to map real-time trafficking and child marriage hotspots, identify vulnerable children and communities, track organised crime syndicates and monitor emerging patterns of exploitation.

The platform also strengthens digital child protection by detecting and mapping online heat zones and IP addresses involved in the creation, distribution and consumption of Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM).

JRC said Raksha is supported by its grassroots network of over 250 civil society organisations across 451 districts in the country, making it one of the largest technology-backed child protection ecosystems globally.

Addressing the summit digitally, Union Minister Jitin Prasada said technology must be used to protect society’s most vulnerable. “Children represent our future. It is our collective responsibility to ensure the digital world they inherit is safe, inclusive and empowering,” he said.

The Minister added that Raksha reflects the government’s commitment to strengthening child protection systems and congratulated JRC for bringing together diverse stakeholders to deliberate on the responsible use of AI.

Member of Parliament Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, convenor of MPs for Children, said AI is no longer a future promise but a present reality. “AI allows us to move from reaction to prevention, from documenting harm to predicting risk. It strengthens human judgment and enables early intervention before harm occurs,” he said, calling prevention a moral imperative.

Bhuwan Ribhu, Founder of Just Rights for Children, said Raksha marks a landmark moment in India’s leadership in using technology for social protection. 

“This platform can help track every child in need of care and every vulnerable family. By transforming data into action, Raksha expands access to justice and improves service delivery,” he said.

Raksha operates through three key AI-driven tools:

1. Prevention module to reduce economic vulnerability of families, particularly to curb child marriage
2. Trafficking disruption module to track organised crime networks and financial trails
3. Digital safety module to detect and analyse online child abuse contents.

The day-long summit featured four plenary sessions on:

• AI-driven social transformation

• Safer digital spaces for children

• Tech for good

• AI, awareness and responsible communication

Discussions focused on predictive prevention, behaviour analysis, law enforcement integration and digital rights of children.

Senior officials from the Ministry of Women and Child Development, cyber security agencies, academia, technology companies and international organisations participated in the summit.

According to JRC, in 2025 alone, the organisation:

• Connected over 2 million vulnerable families to welfare schemes

• Prevented nearly 2 lakh child marriages

• Rescued over 55,000 children from trafficking

• Facilitated action in 73,000 CSEAM cases

Following JRC’s petition in 2024, the Supreme Court criminalised downloading and storage of CSEAM and replaced the term ‘child pornography’ with CSEAM in official usage.

JRC also works closely with the Railway Protection Force to rescue trafficked children using rail networks.

India will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026, becoming the first country from the Global South to organise a global AI summit. The event will bring together world leaders, CEOs and policymakers to shape the future of artificial intelligence.