This story is from March 4, 2020

300 kids trafficked from Bihar rescued last year: DSW

The task force of Directorate of Social Welfare (DSW) has rescued 300 trafficked children below 18 years from other states in 2019. It had rescued 317 children in 2018.
300 kids trafficked from Bihar rescued last year: DSW
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PATNA: The task force of Directorate of Social Welfare (DSW) has rescued 300 trafficked children below 18 years from other states in 2019. It had rescued 317 children in 2018.
Altogether 7,367 children in 2018 and 5,757 in 2019 were restored to their families across the state, according to sources at DSW.
In the latest report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Bihar ranked third in child trafficking cases in the country after Rajasthan and West Bengal in 2017 when 362 boys and 33 girls below 18 years of age were rescued.
The report also mentioned one child trafficking case per day in Bihar.
Social Welfare Department director Raj Kumar told this newspaper that Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Telangana were the main states for child trafficking from Bihar and the main source districts included Gaya, Samastipur, East Champaran, West Champaran, Purnea, Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur.
Kumar said no specific people acted as perpetrators as family, spouse, friends and neighbours could be a trafficker. “They may pose as job recruiters, matchmakers or others who promise employment or marriage. Poverty, often cited as a major reason, is not the only cause for child trafficking,” he said.
“In 2019, around 300 child labourers were rescued — 129 from Rajasthan, 99 from Maharashtra, 72 from Telangana and 52 from Chennai. About 125 trafficked children were rescued from Rajasthan in January and February. Engaged in different sectors, especially bangle making, they belonged to Gaya, Samastipur, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga,” Kumar said.

He added: “For speedy transfer and restoration of the children from destination states, a state-level special task force comprising representatives of DSW, labour resources department and home department is working in Bihar.”
Following the principal of de-institutionalization of children and for the speedy reunification of the children residing in child care institutions (CCIs), a special drive was initiated by the DSW in 2018. Under the close monitoring of the directorate, all the CCIs started verification of addresses of the residing children using different methods.
The director said Aadhaar card was used as one of the important tools through which addresses of the children were located by using biometrics details. “The process helped and those children were restored to their families very easily. In about 0.1% cases, parents were not ready to accept their kids,” Kumar said.
He said the task force also ensures that the kids are comfortable at their restored home. “We have the database of all the children rescued and restored to their families. We monitor their progress on monthly basis. The rescue, restoration and rehabilitation would not be possible without the cooperation of all the stakeholders,” he said.
Presently, there are 33 CCIs across the state and 1,300 children, including girls, are living at these institutions.
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About the Author
Faryal Rumi

She is working with the Times of India as a Senior Digital Content Creator on the Patna desk.

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