"The menace can be effectively handled through convergence of efforts of the Centre, States and civil society organizations," said Women and Child Development Secretary Neela Ganagadharan while chairing a meeting of the Central Advisory Committee (CAC) on Combating Trafficking here.
She mentioned that the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Bill 2012, which has been passed by the Parliament, will go a long way in combating this problem as provisions in the Bill linked trafficking with protecting children from sexual offenses.
She stated that sufficient legislative and programmatic framework exists to prevent and combat trafficking. The framework for prevention, protection and penalization is in place, but strengthening of systems for their effective implementation is needed to combat this problem, she said.
The WCD secretary also invited suggestions from representatives of the Central and State governments, UNICEF, NGOs and experts to strengthen the legislative and monitoring measures to combat trafficking.
Gangadharan said the WCD Ministry had launched 'Ujjwala' Scheme projects in 19 states since 2008 to prevent and combat trafficking.
However, she noted that the states need to be more pro-active to involve the NGOs for ensuring effective implementation of the scheme. The Secretary stated that the Ministry of WCD is planning to introduce videoconferencing for sanctioning of Ujjwala projects.
