Vijayawada: Plea to include children of traffic survivors in Mission Vatsalya

Vijayawada (NTR district): The leaders of Vimukthi appealed to the government to apply the Mission Vatsalya scholarship scheme to the children of the survivors of trafficking and sex workers.

In a representation to Principal Secretary of Women and Child Welfare Muddada Ravichandra here on Monday, secretary Pushpa, president Apoorva and members Baji and Mounika from Vimukthi State-level forum of survivors of trafficking and victims of commercial sexual exploitation, appealed to the government to ensure that the sex workers need not submit the certificates or credentials to prove that they are separated or divorced from their husbands while extending time period to apply to the scheme till end of this month.

They also submitted representations to Kesali Apparao, chairman of AP State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, and to the Director of Department of Women and Child Development.

According to the official estimate of AP State AIDS Control Society (APSACS), there are 1.33 lakh sex workers, who are registered in Andhra Pradesh under AIDS control projects. The Vimukthi members recalled the directions by National Human Rights Commission as well as the Supreme Court in 2020 to distribute the benefits under government welfare schemes to the sex workers without restricting or demanding them to submit their credentials or identity proofs such as Aadhaar card, ration card. They emphasised that the Mission Vatsalya scheme should be made eligible to the children of the survivors of trafficking and sex workers through taking the certificate from the NGOs implementing HIV/AIDS projects of APSACS where they are registered under those NGOs.

They stated that no woman will voluntarily enters this trade but they have been pushed into it after experiencing domestic violence, harassment by their husbands, abuse and exploitation and also deceived by some people. So, how far it is rationale to demand evidence for their separation from such husbands, they said.

Further, one of the norms of eligible criteria under the scheme is to open a joint account for both the mother and child but there is not enough time to complete all these criteria.

Hence, Vimukthi leaders appealed to extend the time period to apply for the scheme. They urged the government to take appropriate measures with immediate effect to prevent children of sex workers and second generation being trafficked.