Centre had sent an advisory to all states 3 months ago, laying down several measures to combat human trafficking, but 8 of those states, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh & Jammu & Kashmir have still not enacted on the norms yet.
On Tuesday, the news agency reported that the advisory, issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, included prevented measures against human trafficking, especially of children from families that faced severe financial troubles due to the Coronavirus lockdown. The MHA also asked the states to form Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) in every district on a “most urgent basis”.
However, according to the report, Uttar Pradesh & Maharashtra are among the 6 states that have not reached even the basic norm that was mapped out ten years ago which was focused on the setting up of AHTUs in at least 50% of police districts. While UP has only 35 units for 75 districts, Maharashtra has a mere 12 for 36 districts.
Last week, the news agency reported that human trafficking cases in India hit a 3 year-high in 2019, according to the latest data available with National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
“Traffickers often exploit the vulnerabilities of people by making false promises of a new job, better income, better living conditions & support to their families, etc. While such promises of perpetrators appear legitimate to people, unfortunately it makes many men, women & children easy prey for exploitation,” a July 6 letter by the Home Ministry, signed by Deputy Secretary Arun Sobti, states.
In 2019, a total of 6,616 human trafficking cases were registered in the country, which is far higher than the 5,788 cases registered in 2018 & 5,900 cases in 2017. The previous year also saw a drop in conviction rates of trafficking cases - from 29.4 per cent in 2018 to 22 per cent in 2019.
Maharashtra, which is yet to put the latest MHA mandates in place, had in 2019 registered the highest number of human trafficking cases - 986 - of which 95 pertained to minors & the remaining 936 pertained to victims above 18 years of age.
Delhi where a total of 608 cases were registered in 2019 had the second highest number of trafficked minors at 536. From 2017 to 2019, Delhi reported the second-most cases of trafficking of minors among the states & Union Territories.
Delhi was also the only place in the country, among 36 states & UTs, where human trafficking cases took place with the aim of 'removal of organs'. 4such cases were registered in Delhi.
In 2019, Rajasthan saw the highest number of cases where minors were trafficked. Out of the total 653 cases, 636 pertained to boys & the remaining 17 to girls.
Out of the cases investigated by various police departments, sexual exploitation in the form of prostitution was found to be the number 1 reason for human trafficking & Maharashtra reported the highest of such cases at 946, followed by Telangana at 322, & Andhra Pradesh at 316.
Other major reasons listed for human trafficking were forced marriage, for which most cases were registered in Assam; domestic servitude with Manipur recording highest cases; & forced labour, the category in which Bihar saw most cases.
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