Intelligence wing in the police department should be strengthened as trafficking of children and women has become the third profitable venture in the world, said Assembly Deputy Speaker N Yogish Bhat.

He was speaking at a campaign against immoral trafficking of women and children, organised jointly by the district administration, zilla panchayat, the Women and Child Welfare Department here on Monday.

He said Union Home Minister Sunil Kumar Shinde, at a recent meeting, asked the State Government to take effective steps and start a campaign against curb trafficking. Accordingly, as per the direction of the State government, a campaign is being organised in all the districts and taluks.

Emphasising that the government alone cannot check immoral trafficking, Bhat said that there was a need to create awareness among the public, so that the poor do not fall prey to false promises of money and employment offered by the traffickers.

He said many a time women and children are made to work as domestic workers without pay and are used in prostitution. There is a need to conduct a study on the number of students--both boys and girls-- who go missing in the district. The term “missing” cannot be treated lightly, at a juncture when the trafficking of women and children is on the rise.

He said Assembly Petition Committee meeting had discussed the immoral trafficking of women and children. The issue will also be raised in the coming Assembly session.

There is a need to strengthen the Narcotic Control Bureau, whose endeavour is to create a drug-free society through coordination and cooperation of all stake holders and create synergy among them. The district and taluk-level officials who are responsible for checking immoral trafficking of women and children should become pro-active. There is a need to create awareness on drug abuse at the college-level.

District juvenile Justice Board member Rameela Shekar said that children are pushed into begging and work as child labourers by the traffickers. There is a need to stop discriminating male and female child. “We follow the rules of silence when incidents like child and women trafficking take place. There is a need to educate girls to prevent them from falling prey into the hands of traffickers,” she added.

DK CWC President Asha Nayak said that child labourers were rescued from  houses of officials as well. However, the officials were never punished. “We can provide justice to children, only when the erring officials are punished and children are rehabilitated. The civil society fails to raise their voice against the atrocity on children and women.

She called upon the participants to inform the nearest police station or the CWC when the cases of women and child trafficking in the neighbourhood. The CWC has received 352 complaints and 337 children have been rehabilitated last year.

A jatha was held to create awareness on immoral tracking from Jyothi Circle to Town Hall on the occasion.

MLA U T Khader, Mayor Gulzar Banu, district project officer Mohammed Nazeer, Childline coordinator Renni D’Souza, social worker Premananda Kalmadi and others were present.