West Bengal NGOs want Centre’s help in tackling trafficking during Covid-19 lockdown

Women wearing protective masks wait for treatment at a local government hospital after some departments of the hospital opened as lockdown restrictions were lifted, in Kolkata on Monday. (ANI Photo)

Pramod Giri, HT, May 05, 2020 , Siliguri: Non-government organizations (NGOs) trying to stop child trafficking in north Bengal districts want the Centre to form an inter-ministerial team to trace missing children as the countrywide lockdown has made movement impossible.

Rate of child and woman trafficking is quite high in north Bengal districts that are close to Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), West Bengal registered the second highest number of missing children in 2016, 2017 and 2018 while Madhya Pradesh topped the list.

According to NCRB, 63,407, 63,349 and 67,134 children went missing in the country in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively. In West Bengal, the figures were 8,335, 8,178 and 8,205 for the corresponding years.

Amit Sarkar, general secretary, Darjeeling District Legal Aid Forum (DDLAF) said, “The Covid-19 outbreak has stopped rescue operations conducted by different agencies. We are especially concerned about the missing children from Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts.”

Sarkar said, “Though the number of missing children is much higher, around 100 missing diaries were lodged in different police stations after 2018. The effort to trace some of them were on when the lockdown was declared.”

On April 27, DDLAF wrote to the National Legal Services Authority (NLSA) and demanded formation of a ‘Special Combat Team’.

Sarkar said, “Though the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Children (WBCPC) has taken cognizance of a complaint lodged by DDLAF the state machinery moves slowly.”

“The lockdown has also affected the income of local people. Hence, families of most of the missing children are not being able to pursue these cases,” said Sarkar.

Rangu Souriya, secretary of Kanchanjunga Uddhar Kendra (KUK), which has rescued more than a thousand girls and women, said, “Preparing strategies to prevent trafficking and tracing the missing children during the lockdown is a must.”

Raju Nepali, founder of Dooars Express Mail, an NGO that rescues trafficked children, said, “There is not a single police station in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts where complaints have not been lodged. Most of the children come from poor families. Many cases are never reported.”

Rabindranath Ghosh, senior Trinamool Congress leader and north Bengal affairs minister, said, “The NGOs have given a good proposal. Efforts should be made to trace the missing children.”

The NGOs also fear that the missing children may contract the infection as their abductors may not be exercising social distancing norms.

(Courtesy & source- https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/west-bengal-ngos-want-centre-s-help-in-tackling-trafficking-during-covid-19-lockdown/story-kyYElBHaOhhcnq9DZmFsQP.html )