19 June,2025 09:14 AM IST | Mumbai | Devashish Kamble
Successful registration calls for a mini-celebration on the launch day. Pics/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
After Artificial Intelligence (AI) in art, music, and films, a little birdie told us about the dawn of AI for matchmaking. To our relief, it's not the kind that might spook out our 30-something-year-old readers. Engineer-turned-entrepreneur Akshay Ridlan's new initiative, Milaap Setu, aims to simplify reuniting lost individuals with their families using AI-based face recognition. At a pilot launch in Thane's Smit Old Age Home and Care Foundation yesterday, Ridlan registered his first few users.
"In this old-age home alone, there are nearly 250 senior citizens who have been displaced from home and spend their day hoping for their families to find them. Some of them don't even remember their own names or where they came from," reveals Ridlan. Dementia India Alliance estimates that nearly 1.7 crore Indians will grapple with some form of dementia by 2036.
Akshay Ridlan (left) briefs senior citizens about the platform
Developed by a team of 11 app developers in Ridlan's Kurla office, the platform will run on a repository of lost individuals. When an NGO, old age home, or a good Samaritan registers a lost person by simply clicking a photograph and providing any credentials available, the platform saves the data along with the location on a secure cloud server. At the other end of this initiative, when a family logs on to the website, a quick upload of the lost individual's photograph will reveal any matches in the repository. All registrations, Ridlan assures us, are voluntary.
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Photographs, especially in the case of senior citizens, might not always be in mint condition. Ridlan explains how the platform overcomes this setback. "Our back-end system analyses not just visual data, but the facial points and features of the concerned individual. In case of worn-out, slightly damaged photographs, we will still be able to match facial features," he assures us. Ridlan will soon conduct registration drives in Pune, Bengaluru, and Delhi to expand his database to cater to inter-city and inter-state cases.
Volunteers explain the tool's benefits to a resident of the old age home
This isn't the 25-year-old's first attempt to reunite families. In 2023, Ridlan introduced QR code pendants for children, seniors and other vulnerable individuals. In one of the success stories reported by mid-day in April 2024, a child with intellectual disability had reached the doors of Colaba Police Station. On learning that the child was wearing the QR pendant, police officials facilitated reconciliation with his family in Worli within 30 minutes.
"We continue to see at least 10 interactions every day on our platform for the QR code initiative," reveals Ridlan. But these happy stories come at a cost that is bound to increase with the new initiative. The subscription for the secure cloud server that facilitates these connections on the go is his largest expense, followed by maintaining the website and the team. Ridlan is welcoming assistance from investors willing to extend a helping hand.
A woman sports the QR pendant (right), Ridlan's previous social cause venture
Contributions don't only come in the form of monetary support. The heart of the initiative - its repository - needs collective effort from Mumbaikars. "The wider our data bank is, the sooner we can hit the ground running and see real impact. We're taking registration drives to old age homes across the city this month, but anyone who sees a lost person around them can chip in with their registration," the founder signs off. Till this city runs out of its famed spirit, Ridlan's is far from a lost cause.
Log on to: projectchetna.in
To register an individual
1. Log on to projectchetna.in on your web browser
2. Click on the âRegister Missing' option
3. Choose between capturing a photo or uploading an old photo
4. After the scan is complete, add any details like name, age and last location
5. Click submit to conclude
To search for a missing person
1. Log on to projectchetna.in on your web browser
2. Click on the âFind missing' option
The platform scans a user's face during registration
3. Capture a photo of the individual or upload an old photograph
4. The platform will scan the photo and reveal any matches along with last seen location, and contact number
