DIMAPUR, JULY 13 (MExN): There’s a resounding need for Nagaland to formulate a mechanism that would help in curbing child trafficking. State machineries such as the police, the judiciary and the social welfare department have yet to constructively tie up with NGOs and other partners to fight the growing threat, now looming large in the Northeast.
At a consultation meeting in Dimapur today, the need for collaboration between the various agencies was harped upon consistently. Nagaland Police have registered only 9 cases of trafficking during the last seven years, out of which 3 have seen convictions. What’s more, these cases are confined to Dimapur district alone.
According to Inspector General of Police (Intelligence), MV Chakhesang, also the anti-trafficking nodal officer for Nagaland, some agencies who can work for rehabilitation of victims need to be identified on a priority basis.
For intra-state cooperation, Chakhesang has been directed by the Centre to host a website. The superintendents of police from all 11 districts work under him as supervisory officers. Identification of transit points and the requirement of understanding the dynamics of the crime were also put into focus.
Making a statement from a mother’s point of view, Sano Vamuzo, chairperson of the Nagaland State Women Commission, called on the need to sensitize women and to make them conscientious of the issue. She called for striking a balance between employing domestic help for household chores and asked mothers not to employ underage children for the same.
Opening child care facilities at workplaces where women work can help mothers and also create employment, she added. Romeo Myrchiang of Impulse NGO Network said the loopholes in the system have to be addressed and that domestic labour, force labour and prostitution are causes for trafficking in Nagaland. Dimapur deputy commissioner Abhijit Sinha’s put in words of caution that with growing economic disparity, the area could well become a trafficking hub in the future.
.jpg)
