Set up anti-human trafficking units in all districts: MHA to states

Intensifying the efforts to effectively tackle human trafficking, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked states to immediately set up specialised task forces at the state level and all districts and mandate women help desks in police stations to deal with such cases.

In letters to Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police, the MHA said the three-tier mechanism is needed to tackle the menace in a "comprehensive and full-bodied manner".

At the state level, an Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau (AHTB) should be set up under an additional director general of police "to oversee and coordinate" all trafficking-related issues within the state and for coordination with other states and union territories.

The states should also notify an Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) in every district, which shall be responsible for all human trafficking-related matters in its jurisdiction and will report to the state-level AHTB. The district-level ATHUs will be headed by a superintendent of police or deputy superintendent of police.

States should also set up a Women Help Desk in every police station and be given the responsibility to undertake matters of rescue, prevention, protection and support investigation of human trafficking cases of women. It will coordinate activities with other police stations and will also perform such duties and responsibilities as directed by the district AHTU.

"By establishing the above arrangement, each state will have a unit for preventing and countering human trafficking at all levels of the State/UT-Headquarters of the State/UT, district level and police station-level, thus dealing with the problem of human trafficking in a comprehensive manner," MHA Deputy Secretary Arun Sobti said in the letter sent on Monday.

Sobti said Rs 25.16 crore was released between 2010 and 2019 for setting up such units in 332 districts, another Rs 100 crore from Nirbhaya Fund was released in March this year to extend the programme to all the 739 districts in the country as well as under the border guarding forces.

Another Rs 100 crore under the Nirbhaya Fund was also allocated for setting up the Women Help Desks.

In July, DH had reported that the MHA had asked states to provide extensive training for police personnel at state border outposts to spot victims and involve panchayats in identifying children vulnerable to criminal gangs, fearing that the economic strain unleashed by the Covid-19 could lead to increased human trafficking.