Kadiri: ‘Spread awareness among people to check child trafficking’

Kadiri: REDS NGO conducted an awareness programme on the occasion of Anti-Trafficking Day. As a part of the programme, the NGO had launched an awareness creation drive against child/human trafficking and child labour at grassroots levels from primary and secondary schools to gram panchayats and various households.

These consistent efforts are to ensure that there is ample awareness among people about child/human trafficking and child labour. While there have been stringent actions and initiatives both at the State as well as Central government levels in the last one decade, combating child/human trafficking has been a challenge for the country considering the lack of awareness and knowledge among the masses.

Child trafficking from different parts of the country has been a huge challenge for decades and while the number of such reported cases has increased, to promote awareness among the masses, a lot still needs to be done, stated Bhanuja, founder of REDS.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, in the year 2021, 77,535 children were reported missing. When compared to the previous year, the number of children missing in 2021 increased by 31 per cent. Throwing light on the increased number of cases of child/human trafficking in the country, she added.

The fact that more and more people are now coming forward to report cases of missing children/human is a huge step. “It reflects that the awareness programmes that we all conduct at grassroots levels are leading to a change in the mindset of the people. But while the governments and law enforcement agencies are also working aggressively to handle child/human trafficking issues in the country, what we strictly need is anti-trafficking laws if we want to eradicate child/human trafficking completely from our country,” she said.

SP Madhav Reddy hailed REDS for working extensively in the area. He assured all cooperation from the police for combating child trafficking and child labour. DSP Kadiri, DSP DISHA, PD ICDS, ADMHO, MEO and advocates participated.

GMSKs, Asha workers, ICDS supervisors, women and men from different mandals and REDS staff participated in the meeting.