Parl panel urges Centre to set up 'anti-human trafficking wing' to curb the menace

A parliamentary committee has recommended to the Government of India to establish a national anti-human trafficking bureau to investigate trans-border trafficking across states as well as cases of human trafficking involving a foreign country.

New Delhi: In spite of several steps being taken by the Union Home Ministry to combat human trafficking, states like Maharashtra, Telengana and Andhra Pradesh have witnessed the highest number of cases registered in 2020.

A per the latest statistics compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Maharashtra and Telangana each registered 184 human trafficking cases followed by Andhra Pradesh with 171 cases. Following close behind was Kerala, which recorded 166 cases and Assam with 124 cases.

According to the data released by the NCRB, a total of 4,709 victims were trafficked by human traffickers last year with Rajasthan, Odisha and Maharashtra topping the list of states with the highest number of victims at 818, 741 and 512, respectively.

However, the country also witnessed a decline of 22.4 percent in Human trafficking cases in 2020, as compared to 2019. A total of 1,714 human trafficking cases were recorded last year, a number much lower than previous years' numbers of 2,208 cases in 2019 and 2,278 cases in 2018.

The NCRB report said that traffickers often exploit the vulnerabilities of people by making false promises of a new job, better living conditions and support to their families etc.

"Such promises may appear legitimate to people, but it makes many men, women and children easy prey for exploration," the NCRB report said.

Tragically, 1,466 victims were forced into sexual exploitation for prostitution and 1,452 were victims of forced labour.

The NCRB report also said that a good number of people were rescued during the last year. Of the 4,709 victims, who fell prey to human trafficking, 4,680 victims have been rescued from the clutches of traffickers.

It may be mentioned here that 835 police stations and 696 anti human trafficking units were active in 2020 across India.

A parliamentary committee has also recommended to the government of India to establish a national anti-human trafficking bureau to investigate transborder trafficking across States as well as cases of human trafficking involving a foreign country.

The committee further recommends that the MHA should develop a mechanism for convergence and coordination between the different agencies, institutions, organizations for smooth and better accessibility of services to the victims and survivors of trafficking.