Alarming rise in cases of human trafficking in Bihar
Patna, June 28: Notwithstanding the Nitish Kumar Government's continuing efforts to rein in human trafficking under the Human Traffic Prevention Programme, Bihar has registered an alarming rise in such cases.
According to the official figures compiled by the state police headquarters here, the number of cases went up to over 50 in 2008, an increase of 29 cases over the corresponding period previous year.
On the other hand, police arrested 128 human traffickers and rescued 91 women and 99 child labourers in 2008, official sources said.
Of the 91 women freed from the traffickers, 13 were residents of West Bengal. The rest of them belonged to Bihar, they said. Out of the 99 children, 31 were from West Bengal, six from Jharkhand and the rest from Bihar.
The state government launched the Human Trafficking Prevention Programme during 2007-08 to check the menace and ensure a comprehensive rehabilitation package.
Under the programme, special human trafficking prevention cells, supervised by district welfare officials, police officials and representatives from non-governmental organisations, have been constituted in three districts of Patna, Muzaffarpur and Gaya.
The cells are required to bring the cases of human trafficking to light, launch operation to rescue women and children and bring them to the social mainstream, sources said.
The state Welfare Department in coordination with UN office of drugs and crime was working with three NGOs -- Bharati Trust in Patna, Shaktivardhani in Danapur and another based in Motihari town -- to rehabilitate the victims of flesh trade.
After initial hiccups, these organisations took initiatives to make some arrangements for the rehabilitation of women liberated from the illicit trade, but the work was later hampered for want of funds, sources said.
According to Additional Director General (Weaker Sections) Rajvardhan Sharma, special programmes for policemen are being organised from time to time for imparting training to react quickly the moment cases of human trafficking come to their notice.
An action plan called 'Astitva Yojana' also has been launched by the NDA government to check alarming rise in the cases of human trafficking and bring the culprits to book under the law, they said.
Alarming rise in cases of human trafficking in Bihar