Rajasthan’s Dungarpur, which falls under multi-dimensionally poor districts was facing a problem of increased child trafficking due to lack of basic requirements. The state government along with UNICEF has been able to curb the menace via community policing. Teachers, social workers, and various volunteers were incorporated as part of the project to keep a check on it.
Dungarpur district shares its border with Gujarat and thus has been gripped with the problem of child trafficking for the past many years. The children travel to Rajasthan with the contractors or child traffickers to work in the farms of Gujarat where Bt-Cotton is cultivated.
Speaking with The Statesman, the Child Protection Divisional Consultant Unicef, Sindhu Binujeeth, who worked extensively to save these children said community policing is the way to reduce child trafficking.“The reason why children are made to work in farms where Bt cotton is grown is because they have delicate fingers.”
“Since I work closely with the police and with the community, I realised that a large number of young children join the contractors to work on the farms where Bt-Cotton is grown. The parents are willing to send children to work because they know the contractors well and secondly, in a matter of few months they think the children will be back with them. However, there are several other aspects that impact the children. Their hands get damaged and it is also about their physical, mental, and sexual health that affected them while at work. The contractors exploit the children, pay little, and draw a good amount from the owners.”
According to the State government’s data, the Below Poverty Line (Households) in Rajasthan was 50.11 per cent in 2022 while in 2023 the figures came down to 42.31 per cent. The data also shows that Dungarpur comes under the population that is multidimensionally poor. This is the reason that the state government along with UNICEF is trying to focus on improving the situation in the district.
UNICEF along with police conducts workshops to make people aware of child trafficking. Both, the UNICEF and the law enforcement agency keep in touch with the children and their families through Suraksha Sakhi and Police Mitra. These people help the families to understand that the police is there to help and protect and not to punish.