Jharsuguda: Jharsuguda, the district bordering Chhattisgarh, has turned into a major child trafficking point. The growing number of cases to and from this district is worrying the police as well as the child protection units.
Though officials of the district child protection unit and Childline have been rescuing kids for many years, scores of children are still saved under a scheme known as Operation Muskaan, a campaign launched by the police department, to trace missing children.
It indicates that the child traffickers have become ‘professional’ in their shady human trade and are able to circumvent the existing laws and escape stringent action by the administration.
There were cases where the same child was rescued several times. That means the brokers and people involved in child trafficking had been released after some penalty was collected from them by either the district labour officials or child protection unit personnel.
According to sources, 51 children were rescued during a month when Operation Muskaan-3 was in force. This was an addition to the scores of kids who were saved in the rest 11 months of the year. Significantly, of them, 30 per cent kids were from other states.
Jharsuguda railway station plays an important role in trafficking of children from the district as well as the state. This being one of the oldest stations in the state, regular train facility is available to other parts of the country. Since it is an important railway junction and movement of people is fast, Jharsuguda has become a convenient transit point for brokers to traffic children to and from the state.
According to reports, police along with child protection unit officials, traced 51 children during Operation Muskaan-3 which was underway from July 15 to August 15 this year. While 48 of them were rescued from the district, three were picked up from other states.
Of the 48 rescued from Jharsuguda, 15 belonged to other states – nine from Bihar, three from Jharkhand, two from West Bengal and one from Chhattisgarh. Most of the kids were found working in eateries, garages, and roadside dhabas near urban areas. Of 51 children rescued, 49 were handed over to their respective families while two were put up at shelter homes.
In a bid to evade action, the owners of these units had claimed the children as their relatives and trained them to say so. However, lack of evidence had exposed their lies.
While police have asked the owners of small hotels, dhabas and garages not to employ trafficked kids, locals demanded strong action against the middlemen who play a dirty role in ruining the children’s future. PNN
