Some districts of Assam are vulnerable to child trafficking: Minister Ajanta Neog

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Kamrup (M) and several other districts are vulnerable to child trafficking. According to Women and Child Development Minister Ajanta Neog, 759 children were either missing or trafficked from the state in the past five years. The break-up of the trafficked or missing children is: 77 from Kamrup (M), 59 from Lakimpur, 43 from Sonitpur, 37 from Morigaon, 30 from Biswanth, and 23 from Kamrup, etc.

BJP MLA Diganta Kalita raised the issue of child trafficking during the Question Hour in the House today. He said, “Around 79 percent of the trafficked children are girls. The traffickers target sars, tea gardens, and border areas. The government needs to take special measures to check the menace.” In her reply to the query, Minister Ajanta Neog said, “The government has taken up the matter seriously. The government is committed to checking the menace. The initiatives taken by the government led to the rescue of 666 trafficked children. It has come to light during interactions with the rescued children that, in most of the cases, the penury-driven parents let the traffickers take their children away.”

On steps taken by the government, she said, “We have set up anti-human trafficking units almost in every district, besides the setting up of a special juvenile police cell. We have also set up Ujjwala Homes in several districts for the rehabilitation of the rescued children, especially girls. We have trained NGO workers, ASHA workers, and Anganwadi workers for awareness drives against child trafficking.” She said, “The measures taken by the government have minimized the number of crimes against women to an extent. As many as 20,869 crimes against women were registered in the state in 2016. In 2022, the number of such cases was 12,044.”

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