Despite Jharkhand being considered a major child trafficking hub and administrative sluggishness seem to have derailed the all round efforts of Government and Social organizations to curb trafficking from the State. So much so that even three months after Railway Board and National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) ordered for formation of Child Protection Committee (CPC) at railway stations to check human trafficking, the process is still stuck in files.
Known to be major source and transit point for the human trafficking, it was made mandatory by the NCPCR and Railway Board to form the committee as per the standard operation procedure developed by NCPCR, which would help making railway station a child- friendly place. All the three Rail divisions of Jharkhand- Ranchi, Dhanbad and Chakradharpur were to establish the committee and later at other stations.
Ranchi Railways Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Deepak Kashyap responding to the query behind the delay in committee formation said, “The file has been moved to the South Eastern Railway headquarter at Kolkata and we are waiting for the General Manager’s (GM) consent over it. As soon as we get his nod the committee will be formed.”
The committee was instituted in compliance with a Delhi High Court directive on safeguarding child rights in all states especially those that are majorly affected. The list included -- Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Andra Pradesh among others. The proposed committee would comprise a Station Manager, Superintendent or Master, representatives from the Government Railway Police and Railway Protection Force, a Ticket Inspector and a Section Engineer.
Instruction have also been issued to establish child assistance centers at Railway stations with pre-defined provision for food, temporary shelter, toilet facilities, clothing, first-aid and medicines for the children in need. Moreover, a women Railway employee would manage the centre and ensure that a girl trafficking victim gets proper attention till they are produce before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).
South Eastern Railways General Manager (GM) Radhey Shyam sharing the information about the same said, “Acute space crunch at railway station for the set up of child helping centre has caught up the project. We are of the mind to establish the centre without letting affecting the railways routine affair. It is not possible to give a tentative date but we are on it and will soon come to a solution.”
Meanwhile, State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) members are also making all possible effort to set mechanism of protecting children in and around the railway station.
SCPCR member Sanjay Mishra said, “We are constantly writing letters to the Railway Board for the same. We are determined to provide the committee at earliest in Ranchi and Dhanbad railway station. Once the polling process get we are planning to conduct a meeting with the railway board and with
mutual understanding sort out the hurdle.”