Debate emerges on role of AI in safeguarding children’s rights as ‘Raksha’ launches

By A Representative 

India announced the launch of an AI-powered child protection tool named ‘Raksha’ ahead of the Government of India’s AI Impact Summit 2026, scheduled for February 16–20. The tool was introduced at the ‘Prosperity Futures: Child Safety Tech Summit’ by Jitin Prasada, Union Minister of State for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The summit was organised by Just Rights for Children (JRC) with India Child Protection and MeitY as partners.  

Raksha has been developed by JRC and is supported by a network of over 250 civil society organisations working across 451 districts. The tool uses AI to analyse nationwide data and provide real-time mapping of trafficking and child marriage heat zones, identify vulnerable children and communities, track organised crime networks, and detect emerging exploitation patterns.  

At the summit, Jitin Prasada stated that technology should be measured by its ability to protect vulnerable populations and emphasised the importance of safeguarding children in digital spaces. Bhuwan Ribhu, founder of JRC, described Raksha as a step toward building a large-scale child protection ecosystem using technology. Member of Parliament Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu highlighted AI’s role in shifting child protection from reaction to prevention, noting its potential to generate early warnings and interventions.  

Raksha incorporates three tools: one aimed at reducing economic vulnerability of families to prevent child marriage, another focused on disrupting trafficking networks by tracking financial flows, and a third designed to strengthen digital child protection by mapping online activity linked to Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM).  

The summit featured four plenary sessions on AI’s role in social transformation, digital safety for children, technology for social good, and communication strategies for the future. Participants included representatives from government ministries, law enforcement, academia, civil society, and technology companies.  

JRC reported that in 2025, its initiatives linked over 2 million vulnerable families to welfare schemes, prevented nearly 200,000 child marriages, and rescued more than 55,000 children from trafficking and exploitation. The organisation also petitioned the Supreme Court in 2024, leading to the criminalisation of downloading and storing CSEAM.  

The India-AI Impact Summit 2026 will be the first global AI summit hosted in the Global South, bringing together international leaders, policymakers, and industry representatives to discuss artificial intelligence and its applications.  

While the launch of Raksha has been presented as a landmark in child protection, questions remain about whether AI tools alone can effectively safeguard children’s rights. Observers note that technology may strengthen detection and prevention, but its success will depend on enforcement, accountability, and sustained collaboration between government, civil society, and communities.