Ranchi: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Monday launched a pilot project titled ‘Samvardhan’ to identify vulnerable families in the context of child trafficking. The plan aims to cover all vulnerable families with government’s social welfare schemes so that they are not forced to send their young members out for employment.
The union tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda launched the scheme at an event, which was attended by NCPCR chairman Priyank Kanungo, among others.
Under the scheme, over a dozen village-level stakeholders — like anganwadi sevikas, sahiyas, ASHA workers and sarpanches — would hold a meeting to identify families that are not able to look after their children. After preparing a database, the families and their children would be covered under 35 central and state welfare schemes. After Khunti, the project would be launched in Dumka district.
Niti Aayog member Sanjay Mishra said that around 12,000 to 14,000 children are sold in Jharkhand every year. He added that the challenge to protect the kids has increased manifold as adult members of several families have become unemployed during the Covid period, and child traffickers are trying to exploit the situation.
Kanungo said, “Our aim is to stop cases of child trafficking. We have come to the conclusion that lack of resources and financial distress in families were main causes of trafficking. So, there is a need to change from child–centric to family-centric efforts to handle the problem.”
Munda said: “The task must be completed in a time-bound manner.”