IMPHAL, Mar 23: Stressing on the need for cooperation and support bet-ween the Government and the NGOs working in the field of child welfare, Team Leader of Impulse NGO Net-work, Shillong Hasina Kharbhih has proposed for set-ting up a joint committee of the Government officials and the NGOs to stop child trafficking in Manipur.
Impulse NGO Network, Shillong is the nodal agen-cy fighting against the pro- blem of human trafficking in the North East.
Addressing a press conference at Manipur Press Club here today, Hasina pointed out that with cases of child trafficking emerging from various districts of Manipur, it is becoming increasingly difficult for its State and district partners alone to address all such cases. So, there is the need for collective network of NGOs in the State as well as district level to work on the issue more seriously. More-over, the accountability of the Government to address the issue is of prime importance.
Explaining that religious institutions are involved in most cases of trafficking children from Manipur to other parts of the country on the pretext of providing better education, Hasina said these religious institutions are taking advantage of the trust reposed on them by the parents.
She said that many children from the North eastern States including Manipur who were taken to Karna-taka and other Southern States on the assurance of better education prospect but were actually exploited have been rescued in the past. However, rescuing alone could never be the solution to the problem nor prevent child trafficking.
The photographs of the trafficked children that show them in pitiable situations are being sent abroad by the children homes concerned to raise fund at the cost of these poor children, she disclosed.
However, due to lack of manpower and other resources, NGOs alone have not been able to prevent child trafficking. So the Government of Manipur and the Social Welfare Department in particular need to step in because the accountability of the Government to address the issue is of prime importance, Hasina pointed out, adding that there is also the need to form a joint committee of Government officials and the NGOs. This would go a long way in preventing the problem of child trafficking in Manipur. This arrangement can also the help in keeping a tab on the activities of the NGOs which are supposedly working for the welfare of children with funding from the Government. There is also the need to be vigilant over the activities of the religious institutions.
Towards this end, Impulse NGO Network would be meeting the officials of the Social Welfare Department and other law enforcing agencies in the State, Hasina informed.