Times of India: Jabalpur: Thursday, March 06, 2014.
Taking note of high number of children reported
missing from the state, Madhya Pradesh high court has directed state government
to stringently follow Supreme Court guidelines in the matter and present report
of what actions have been taken so far towards its implementation.
A PIL filed by activist Rajneesh Kapoor had drawn
court's attention to an alarming spurt in the graph of missing children -
12,434 over last five years - apprehending that the lot could have fallen
victims to the illegal racket, including human trafficking. During last
hearing, division bench of Chief Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice K K Lahoti
had chastised the state government for its cavalier attitude to such a
worrisome problem.
The bench had also ordered state authorities to
furnish information if the government had set up a special cell, unit or
committee to tackle the issue and sought information detailing specific steps
to strengthen the paraphernalia any special force raised in the connection.
The
petitioner claimed in response to their RTI query, it was found that a total
number of 8,362 girls and 4,072 boys have been untraceable in MP over last five
years. Counsel Adarsh Muni Trivedi had expressed apprehension that there was
reasonable ground to believe that girls were being pushed into flesh trade even
as possibility of trafficking could not be ruled out. However, state government
seemed to be impervious to plight of these hapless victims and no serious
effort were made to track and rehabilitate them.
The petition
mentioned Punjab and Gujarat as suspected destinations where children were either
being forced to be sex workers or work as domestic servants as paying capacity
of these states are high. Human trafficking mafia has become active in Madhya
Pradesh which has emerged as the biggest supplier of minor children, it
alleged. Police has failed in tracing these children and there is no specified
agency entrusted with the task therefore the problem defies any solution.
The petition
also highlighted lack of coordination between different governmental agencies
which is making the exercise difficult. Things could move at a faster pace if
agencies like railway police, child commission, and child welfare board set up
in every district worked in unison, it noted.
The bench
observed that Supreme Court had issued guidelines about missing children in a
petition filed before it by Bachpan Bachao Andolan and the same must be
produced before it within next fortnight.
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