Thane: India sees over 100,000 people go missing every year, with many senior citizens ending up in overburdened shelters. An estimated 8.8 million Indians over 60 live with dementia, making identification and reconnection a critical need.

In what could go a long way in helping senior citizens suffering from dementia reunite with their families, Milaap Setu, a pilot initiative which uses a unique artificial intelligence-based face-recognition technology, was launched on June 18 at the SMIT Shelter for Senior Citizens in Thane. 

Milaap Setu offers a simple, yet innovative solution: elderly residents wear a QR code badge that links to a secure database containing basic personal information. If found wandering, anyone can scan the code and access details needed to contact their family or caregivers.

As a core component of Project Chetna, the pilot initiative aims to provide two key benefits. Shelters can upload clear photographs and minimal details of missing elderly residents via a free, centralised portal and to seed essential information in the database. The instant search capability is the second USP of Milap. Families or caregivers can upload photos of their missing relatives and the integrated AI-powered facial recognition engine then scans the national shelter database for matches. 

By streamlining complex manual processes, the platform aims to build the country’s first unified AI-driven database of missing individuals, enabling faster and more accurate reunifications. 

“This is AI for good,” said Akshay Ridlan, founder of Milaap Setu. “While AI powers billion-dollar industries, we’re using it to bring hope, dignity, and closure to families.”

Milaap Setu is an AI bridge to reunite missing people with their loved ones through face recognition,” said Akshay Ridlan, Founder of Milaap Setu, an initiative of projectchetna.in. 

This will help accelerate the process of reuniting lost family members, reducing time, costs, and emotional distress compared to traditional on ground searches.

Appealing to shelters and families of those who have gone missing, Ridlan said, the Milaap Setu portal has zero set up fees. Uploading photographs on the Milaap Setu’s national database can help early recognition and reunion.