100 more anti-human trafficking units to come up

Admitting that the law enforcement response was still not adequate to deal with the menace of human-trafficking, the Home Ministry today announced the setting up of 100 more anti-human trafficking units (AHTUs) across the country during current financial year.
This will take the total number of AHTUs to 325. Since their establishment in the year 2011, AHTUs have conducted more than 4,000 rescue operations in the country, rescuing 13,742 victims and arresting 7,087 traffickers, the Ministry said.
Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami called upon law enforcing agencies for greater coordination and effective utilisation of the recent amendment in the Criminal Amendment Act 2013 and provisions of the Money Laundering Act to crackdown upon rampant human-trafficking.

Addressing the 18th review meeting of States/UTs Nodal officers on anti-human trafficking here, he said the law enforcement response is still not adequate to deal with the menace.
He said optimum use must be made of the Criminal Amendment Act 2013. "All efforts should be made to generate awareness about this new provision among police personnel through training."
Goswami said though India has ratified various international agreements to check human-trafficking besides the bilateral mechanism with Bangladesh, human-trafficking is rampant across international borders with Bangladesh and Nepal.
"Despite organised gangs of traffickers are involved in cross border trafficking with Bangladesh and Nepal, there are hardly any cases of successful investigation and prosecution which can create a deterrence and fear of law in the minds of the criminals," he said.

He called for more coordination and synergy among various agencies including the border guarding forces, commissions like the National Commission for Women (NCW), National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the state law enforcing agencies to deal with the menace.