|
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights summoned the secretaries of Rajasthan and Gujarat to work out a plan to stop the trafficking of children across state boundaries
As many as 300,000 children -- mostly from the tribal belt of Rajasthan -- have been trafficked into Gujarat to work in the cotton fields there, says the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. Most of the children are below 14 years of age, and some are trafficked to other states as well like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. News of the trafficking had been published in some newspapers last year, but with the trend apparently continuing the commission summoned the secretaries of Rajasthan and Gujarat to its headquarters in Delhi last month for a consultation. Commission chairperson Shantha Sinha said she hoped to work out an action plan with the two states to stop the trafficking. Sinha said Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu account for 95% of total cottonseed production in the country, leading to a demand for cheap labour. Gujarat is the largest producer of cottonseed. The commission learnt about the trafficking of children when they held a public hearing on child labour in August 2007, in Rajasthan’s Dungarpur district. “We found that national and multinational companies paid a commission to local agents from the tribal communities of Rajasthan to recruit children to work as cheap labour in the fields of Gujarat,” Sinha said. The children are subjected to violence, and toil for hours in the heat and dust she added. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights is a statutory body notified under an Act of Parliament on December 29, 2006. It has the power to look into complaints and take suo motu notice of matters relating to deprivation of child rights and non-implementation of laws providing for protection and development of children, among other things. In February 2008, it released a report on the pathetic condition of juvenile delinquents in reform homes across India. Some 5,000 cases against juveniles are pending in various courts, the report said. Moreover, children in these homes are victims of poor and improper care. Over 50% of juvenile homes do not provide any counselling services to the juveniles in their care, and more than 80% of caretakers at the homes are not trained, the report revealed. The Juvenile Justice Act was introduced in 1986 to establish the basis for a national uniform juvenile justice system, addressing care, protection and treatment of neglected and delinquent juveniles. In 2006, the Act was revised in order to strengthen the previous Act and instil a child-centric rehabilitation and family restoration-focused system. Source: Indo-Asian News Service, March 31, 2008
ANI, February 16, 2008
|
