MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE STATE/UT NODAL OFFICERS FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING HELD BY JOINT SECRETARY (CS) ON 07.03.

2013 The 14th meeting of State Nodal Officers on Trafficking in Human Beings was held under the Chairpersonship of Shri S. Suresh Kumar, JS(CS), MHA on 7th March, 2013 to review progress in the implementation of 1. 2. 3. 4. Establishing Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) sanctioned by MHA, Training of Trainers (TOT) Workshops, Enrollment in IGNOU Course on Anti Human Trafficking, Discussion on proposed amendment in ITPA, 1956 the Comprehensive Scheme on strengthening the law enforcement response to trafficking through the following measures:-

And to review other measures taken by States/ UT Administrations for effective prevention, protection and prosecution in the crime of Human Trafficking. A list of participants is at Annexure I. 2. Director (SR) welcomed all the participants. She urged the participants to apprise themselves of such initiatives

and to work in a coordinated manner. She also asked them to provide their opinion about repatriation procedures for Bangladesh as a bilateral mechanism was under consideration. She mentioned that greater co-ordination was needed between nodal officers and border police on repatriation. Some of the participants also shared their thoughts on the difficulties involved in implementing the AHTU scheme. Lack of manpower was cited as the biggest challenge. The representative from Odisha pointed out that many Acts get passed in a year and the same person often becomes nodal officer for several issues. The representative from Delhi observed that police stations are working with 50% strength. The issue of inadequate representation of women in the police force was also discussed. 3. She also mentioned about the effective partnership which developed between MHA and UNODC under which

the AHTU model was developed. She expressed her appreciation for the resource material that was compiled during this partnership and urged the participants to download it from the UNODC website. She further observed that having ratified the UN optional protocol on trafficking in persons, India was committed as a country to implement its provisions. Discussing the IGNOU certificate course on human trafficking launched in 2010, she encouraged the nodal officers to get more of their staff working on the ground to get enrolled and sensitized. She also highlighted the need for inter-state coordination, citing the close co-ordination between Assam and Haryana in recent cases as a good example. 4. Joint Secretary (CS) while welcoming all the participants emphasized the need for a comprehensive response to

human trafficking. He observed that the majority of women/girls in prostitution are not there voluntarily. They are deceived or coerced and finding no escape succumb to it, and more so as they cannot return to their families. He stated that a strong stance was needed to prevent the perverse trend of children entering prostitution. He said trafficking is not just about carrying out raids. Larger issues were at stake. There are rackets operating across districts, states and countries, but the response at the best remains episodic. He noted the difficulty in coordinating the law enforcement response across different areas and pointed out that traffickers are able to subvert the existing systems of Government because they are better coordinated than the law enforcement agencies. He called for a thorough discussion on gaps in state responses to the issue and what needs to be done. He discussed the connection between missing children and trafficking, noting that a fair proportion of missing children are victims of trafficking. 5. REVIEW OF AGENDA POINTS

JS(CS) reviewed the performance of the State Governments/UTs as regards establishment of AHTUs for the year 20102011 & 2011-12. The State-wise review is as under:

Name of the State/UT

Status AHTUs established 2010-11

of in

Status of AHTUs established in 2011-12

Request for more AHTUs

ANDHRA PRADESH ARUNANCHAL PRADESH ASSAM BIHAR CHHATTISGARH GUJRAT HIMANCHAL PRADESH JAMMU & KASHMIR JHARKHAND KARNATAKA KERALA MADHYA PRADESH MAHARASHTRA

Five established Three established Five established Seven established Four established Five established Two established Four established Four established Five established Three established Eight established Six established

Nil ---Five established Seven established Four established Five established Two established Three established Four established Four established -Eight established Six established

Seven -Seven Five Two Seven Two Three -One --Six

Detail of expenditure during 2010-11 with utilization certificate UC received UC received Rs. 32,08,620 utilized UC received UC received Rs. 29,49,667 UC received UC received UC received UC received UC received UC received UC received UC received for

Detail of expenditure during 2011-12 with utilization certificate

Under process -UC received Under process UC received for Rs. 25,17,167 Under process Under process Under process Under process Under process UC received Under process State Home Deptt has requested to give permission for utilization of the funds UC received Under process UC received UC will be sent shortly UC has been sent to PM Division UC has been sent to PM Division --No separate fund for the use of AHTU is

ODISHA PUNJAB RAJASTHAN TAMIL NADU UTTARAKHAND UTTAR PRADESH WEST BENGAL DELHI CHANDIGARH PUDUCHERRY

Six established Eight established Six established Six established Two established Twelve established Five established One established One established One AHTU & Police Station

Six established Nil Six established Six established Two established Twelve established Four established -Nil Lt Governors approval

Six Four Ten Six Two Eleven Four Nil Nil --

UC received UC received UC received UC received UC received UC received --Nil No separate fund for the use of

notified

obtained

DAMAN & DIU DADAR NAGAR HAVELI A & N ISLANDS

One One Nil

--One established

--One

AHTU is allotted to the UT of Puducherry Nil Nil Nil

allotted to the UT of Puducherry AHTU has up through own budget AHTU has up through own budget been set the UTs been set the UTs

GRAND TOTAL

111

85

84

JS(CS) reviewed the performance of the State Governments/UTs as regards Training of Trainers (ToTs) Workshop. The State-wise review is as under: Name of the State/UT No. of State level TOTs conducted during 2010, 2011 & 2012 (Total) Sixty eight -Four Two One One Two Four One -Two Twelve Nine Two Seven Two One One One Three Two One One No. of District level TOTs conducted during 2010, 2011 & 2012 (Total) Not mentioned -Fourteen Thirty Four Forty five Thirteen One Ten Three Two Ninety nine Fifteen Nil Seven Fifteen Sixteen Nil Thirty five Nil Eight Nil Two Participation in Regional level ToTs workshops for Prosecutors Status of State/ District level ToTs workshops for Prosecutors

ANDHRA PRADESH ARUNANCHAL PRADESH ASSAM BIHAR CHHATTISGARH GUJRAT HIMANCHAL PRADESH JAMMU & KASHMIR JHARKHAND KARNATAKA KERALA MADHYA PRADESH MAHARASHTRA ODISHA PUNJAB RAJASTHAN TAMIL NADU UTTARAKHAND UTTAR PRADESH WEST BENGAL DELHI CHANDIGARH PUDUCHERRY

Yes -Under process 8 prosecutor have attended 8 Assistant District Prosecutors Nil 8 prosecutor have attended 7 prosecutor participated 42 prosecutors -98 participant 7 prosecutor 18 participant 5 participant Information not provided 8 participant 4 prosecutor 4 prosecutor 5 prosecutor -1 participant Nil 2 participant

Proposal process --

is

under

Under process To be conducted Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil -95 participant Nil Scheduled for 5-7th March Nil ( No money) Information not provided Yet to be held To be conducted To be conducted Nil -Nil Nil Nil

DAMAN & DIU DADAR NAGAR HAVELI A & N ISLANDS GRAND TOTAL

-Two Nil 129

-Two Nil 321

-1 APP NA 226

-Not conducted To be conducted 95

JS(CS) reviewed the performance of the State Governments/UTs Human Trafficking. The State-wise review is as under: Name of the State/UT No. of persons enrolled so far with details 6 -30 47 36 54 19 Nil 5 -47 08 35 No. of persons who have completed the course with detail Nil -Nil 1 Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil -Nil Nil Nil

as regards enrollment in IGNOU Course on Anti No. of persons who have been nominated Whether nodal officer (previous and present) has been enrolled NA -Yes Nil No Yes Yes No Yes -Yes Yes Yes (previous)

ANDHRA PRADESH ARUNANCHAL PRADESH ASSAM BIHAR CHHATTISGARH GUJRAT HIMANCHAL PRADESH JAMMU & KASHMIR JHARKHAND KARNATAKA KERALA MADHYA PRADESH MAHARASHTRA

Nil -Nil --Nil 11 Nil 5 -Nil 03 All unit commanders are requested to nominate more 20 NA Nil --

ODISHA PUNJAB RAJASTHAN TAMIL NADU

1 NA 2 36

Nil NA Nil 36

UTTARAKHAND UTTAR PRADESH WEST BENGAL DELHI CHANDIGARH PUDUCHERRY DAMAN & DIU DADAR NAGAR HAVELI A & N ISLANDS GRAND TOTAL

27 19 --31 40 -2

No No ---Nil -Nil

10 455

1 38

Nil 100 -----All the members of the AHTUs are directed to enroll NA 139

Yes (previous), present has applied for NA Yes Previous was enrolled and present will be in May, 2013 Yes (previous) Yes (present) --Yes To be enrolled -Yes (both)

Yes (previous) 15

JS(CS) expressed concern that the status of opening AHTUs and enrollment for the IGNOU course was not so good as it has been expected . JS(CS) also suggested the following points for discussion: a) Manpower - The shortage of manpower was raised by several participants as a major problem. The nodal officer from U.P. noted that the lack of dedicated personnel in AHTUs was the biggest limitation. Some stated that for massive rescues, one inspector and two sub-inspectors were also not sufficient. The representative from Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Odisha strongly pointed out that redistribution of manpower was not possible. The drawback with the existing arrangement was that when the same personnel are required to attend to other work along with AHTUs, it is hard to focus on AHTU work. Presently manpower in AHTUs was part time based as adequate work was not available with them. Hence, exclusive detailment of scarce senior manpower for Anti Trafficking was not feasible. b) Notification of AHTUs as Police Stations (P.S.) The notification of AHTUs as police stations by the Home

Department was necessary otherwise they could not register a crime and manpower could not be assigned. In such cases, crime has to be registered through local police stations (as per the CrPC). The representatives of Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Puducherry responded that the AHTUs in their states have been notified as police stations. It was also suggested by some states that a to set up a special P.S. can be set up in one district for this issue. Some of the representatives said that the AHTU had been made a part of the Women and Child P.S. JS(CS) asked the participants to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of notifying AHTUs as police stations. The nodal officer from Andhra Pradesh pointed out that with a strength of 20-25, the notification of an AHTU as a P.S. might be difficult. She further stated that if only AHTUs register cases, the sense of responsibility among other police stations might reduce for trafficking cases. They might wash their hands off such cases and send them only to the AHTU. The nodal officer from various States stated that the AHTUs in their state are based in police stations. Special police officers prescribed under the ITPA have been notified, and an advisory board also prescribed by the Act has been set up. c) Link between AHTUs and NGOs JS(CS) expressed concern that strong links with NGOs were not being built to the desirable extent, and the interaction between AHTUs and NGOs was not satisfactory. The representatives from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Assam, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, M.P., Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan said they have good co-ordination with NGOs. Other states which indicated a good working relationship between AHTUs and NGOs included Punjab, U.P., Puducherry and Tamil Nadu. The Karnataka representative mentioned active co-ordination between AHTUs and the SCPCR (State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights) in that state. In Rajasthan, the nodal officer also mentioned that prostitution among the Bedia community was a major issue, but no NGOs were dealing with this aspect there. He stated that AHTUs are registering and investigating cases and sending the victims to Nari Niketans. In Himachal Pradesh, the representative explained that there were not many NGOs, and in Dadra and Nagar Haveli it was noted that there were no NGOs . Representative of States have given name of some NGOs who are working in their state very actively: ANDHRA PRADESH ARUNANCHAL PRADESH ASSAM BIHAR CHHATTISGARH GUJRAT Prajwala --Gold Apne Aap Child Helpline, Sewa Sansthan --ODISHA PUNJAB RAJASTHAN TAMIL NADU UTTARAKHAND UTTAR PRADESH Child Line, BBSR --Mahila Samakhya, Vishakha India Shaktivahini, Child Line

Nari

HIMANCHAL PRADESH JAMMU & KASHMIR JHARKHAND KARNATAKA KERALA MADHYA PRADESH MAHARASHTRA 6. Sources of trafficking

--------Child Line -----

WEST BENGAL DELHI CHANDIGARH PUDUCHERRY DAMAN & DIU DADAR N. HAVELI A & N ISLANDS

Maitri Nepal, Jabala, IJM STOP, BBA, Shaktivahini Madhupreet Sansthan Just -------

JS(CS) informed the participants that the

Parliamentary Standing Committee had asked the MHA to identify the

potential source areas for trafficking. He requested the nodal officers to identify which police stations especially need to be sensitized to this problem. The MHA would like to compile a list in this regard, for which he sought the active co-operation of the nodal officers. 7. CROSS-BORDER ISSUES

a) JS (CS) called for a discussion on cross-border trafficking especially by representatives of states who share border with neighbouring countries such as Pakistan (Rajasthan, Punjab) and Bangladesh (West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur and Mizoram). b) The DIG (BSF) looking after trafficking issues spoke about cross-border trafficking. He said the main issue was the Bangladesh border stretching over 4000 km, of which 111 km were still unfenced. Understanding cross-border trafficking was complicated by the issue of illegal migration. He stated that 32 vulnerable patches had been identified. He provided details of the internal sensitization of the BSF by TOTs and also mentioned that the BSF is working with the local police in this regard. He said the BSF gives the MHA information on touts at the border, about whom the MHA would inform the nodal officers. c) In relation to cross-border trafficking, JS(CS) told the participants that women and children, if victims, should not be prosecuted under the Foreigners Act or Passport Act. He mentioned the MHA advisory issued in this regard and requested that it be forwarded to all the Police Stations in the State/UT. 8. TRAFFICKING AS AN ORGANIZED CRIME JS(CS) drew attention to the fact that a good case prosecuting perpetrators of an organized crime was yet to be done anywhere in the country. He noted that the Parliamentary Standing Committee had also asked the MHA about any notable case of organized crime which had been cracked. He pointed out that the MHA has issued a detailed advisory on human trafficking as an organized crime and emphasized the need to break the financial backbone of the operators. JS(CS) cited some of the legislative provisions that could be invoked to establish trafficking-related crimes as part of an organized nexus or racket. The nodal officers raise the issue of girls from brothels, and in building cases which led to rescue and convictions by applying IPC sections. The role of placement agencies bringing persons from Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand to Delhi and other metros to work in the domestic sector was discussed.

9.

MISSING CHILDREN The manner of registering cases of missing children and lodging FIRs as per directions of High Court was discussed. A copy of FIR was circulated among the Nodal office for their views and comments. The representatives of the state informed the manner as under ANDHRA PRADESH, BIHAR, TAMIL NADU, KARNATAKA, MADHYA PRADESH ARUNANCHAL PRADESH, DELHI , PUNJAB, JAMMU & KASHMIR, PUDUCHERRY GUJRAT RAJASTHAN, DADAR N. HAVELI, DAMAN & DIU, A & N ISLANDS, CHANDIGARH KERALA As missing persons Under 363 Section UTTARAKHAND, WEST BENGAL ASSAM, JHARKHAND, ODISHA, MAHARASHTRA, HIMANCHAL PRADESH Wait for 15 days then lodge FIR No FIR

Under Section UTTAR PRADESH No case registered 57 of Kerala CHHATTISGARH --Police JS(CS) asked for the participants views on the pros and cons of registering missing cases. The pros included better monitoring and satisfaction of the family that a FIR was lodged. Among the cons discussed were a spike in the crime graph and the legal barrier u/s 154 Cr. PC. One of the participants responded that it was difficult to register a case of a missing child if no offense was made out. Sometime it is observed that the missing child himself come back after a few days. JS(CS) cited the Delhi High Court order on registering cases of missing children as FIRs and noted that in the BBA case is currently before the Supreme Court. He mentioned that the order had been issued by the Honble Court directing lodging FIRs in the case of missing children. If so, it would be applicable across the country as per Article 141 of the Constitution of India. JS(CS) also emphasized the need to verify if children are coming back or not. He stated that Delhi, for instance, is doing this. 10. Discussion on proposed amendment in ITPA, 1956 JS(CS) has discussed with Nodal Officer from the States on this issue and it is stated that a copy of the act will be circulated to the all states for their comments. 11. The meeting ended with vote of thanks to the Chair and a copy of Sanction for assistance to police for rescue of victims of Human Trafficking.

12. BPR&D on Training of Trainers (TOTs) a) All Nodal officer from States has requested to Smt. Nirmal Kaur, IG from the BP R&D for providing more funds for the training programme organized in the State. As regards District-level trainings it was observed that this needed more emphasis and initiative. Thana-level stakeholders need to be trained and sensitized. Director (SR) suggested that perhaps 3-4 geographically contiguous districts could be clubbed together for the purpose of training. JS(CS) also asked whether all states/UTs had done trainings at the level of IOs or Investigating Officers. He emphasized the importance of IOs being familiar with the concerned laws and procedures. JS(CS) requested all the participants to provide a page-long set of discussion points on training sessions, with details on

participants and resource persons. In the case of larger programmes at the state level, he requested all participants to provide photographs, powerpoints and so on. b) With regard to conducting judicial colloquia, JS(CS) suggested that it be done in terms of the severity of the problem, i.e. states such as Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Assam needed it more urgently. 13. Annual Action Plan A format for the preparation of Annual Action Plan for anti human trafficking activities in the state is attached and all the nodal officers are requested to prepare the AAPs and submit them by the 1 st May, 2013.