The Hindu : New Delhi News : Sincere efforts lacking to curb human trafficking

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Saturday, Jul 03, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Sincere efforts lacking to curb human trafficking

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JULY 2. A survey conducted by a non-government organisation (NGO), Shakti Vahini, on measures that should have been taken by the State Governments to curb human trafficking as per the Supreme Court directive issued way back in 1998 has revealed that most of the affected States have not taken any sincere initiative in that direction. The NGO accused even the Central Government of maintaining silence on this matter of grave concern.

The survey places the States and the Union Territories in four categories on the basis of the quality of work done there in combating trafficking of women and minors. Sikkim and Meghalaya, which fall in the first, were found to be less affected and the respective Governments were taking various steps to curb the evil of trafficking trade. One of the most affected States is Andhra Pradesh that along with Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, Mizoram and Pondicherry falls in the second category, where the authorities have shown some interest in dealing with the problem.

Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttaranchal, West Bengal and Manipur come under the third category in which the Government functionaries did not show any interest in the subject. The survey disclosed that States like Bihar, Haryana, Nagaland, Punjab, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh were the worst affected and the authorities concerned were completely apathetic to the problems being faced by lakhs of women and children.

"In almost 80 per cent of the cases, we found that the committees formed at various levels had not met even once," said the Shakti Vahini executive director, Ravi Kant.

Mr. Kant said the Supreme Court, in its judgement in Vishal Jeet versus the Union Government case in 1990, had issued directives for the formulation of a national plan of action for combating human trafficking and had also suggested amendments to the existing Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act as it was discriminatory to the disadvantage of women. The directive also included the formation of State-level committees with the help of the Department of Social Welfare and the Department of Women and Children. Subsequently, the Union Government set up a committee in 1992 but it was disbanded and another "high-power" committee was formed after the Supreme Court issued another set of directives during the hearing of one Gaurav Jain case in 1998. "In its fresh directive, the Apex Court also asked the Government to set up a Trafficking Control Bureau in every State for better coordination, provisions of compensation for victims, their rehabilitation and watch-dog bodies. It also suggested appointment of a special police officer for exclusive investigations into trafficking cases," said Mr. Kant, adding that such mechanism were still not in place due to which real perpetrators behind the trafficking racket were operating with impunity. "In case the girls trafficked from Andhra Pradesh are rescued from Delhi, the Andhra Pradesh police would refuse to register a case and pass the buck to their Delhi counterparts. In that process, the traffickers go scot-free."

Realising that the institutional machinery was completely apathetic to the evil of human trafficking, Shakti Vahini moved the Supreme Court with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), on which the court issued notices to the State Governments asking them for status reports on various steps that were to be taken as per its direction. "They formed the committees before filing their replies but almost all of them have not met more than once. Around 50 per cent of the States claimed that they did not have any red-light areas, but in reality the anti-AIDS departments functioning under them have identified several red-light areas," said Mr. Kant, adding that the main motto of carrying out such a survey was to bring forth the ground reality that the Government agencies were least bothered about the welfare of the victims of human trafficking. Informing that the U.S. Government had shifted India from its Tier-II list to the Tier-II watch-list, he said things were going at a very slow pace due to non-implementation of law.

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