The Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami has called upon law enforcing agencies for greater coordination and effective utilisation of the recent amendment in the Criminal Amendment Act, 2013 and provisions of the Money Laundering Act to crack down upon rampant human-trafficking. Addressing the 18th review meeting of States/UTs Nodal officers on Anti-Human Trafficking in New Delhi, he said the law enforcement response is still not adequate to deal with the menace.

The Home Secretary said optimum use must be made of the Criminal Amendment Act of 2013. “All efforts should be made to generate awareness about this new provision to police personnel through training.”

Goswami said India has ratified various international agreements to check human-trafficking including the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC) and SAARC Convention on Trafficking in Women and Children besides the bilateral mechanism with Bangladesh, as yet human-trafficking is rampant across international borders with Bangladesh and Nepal. “Despite organized gangs of traffickers are involved in cross border trafficking with Bangladesh and Nepal, there are hardly any cases of successful investigation and prosecution which can create a deterrence and fear of law in the minds of the criminals,” he said.

He called for more coordination and synergy among various agencies including the border guarding forces, commissions like the National Commission for Women (NCW), National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the state law enforcing agencies to deal with the menace.

The Union Home Secretary said 100 more Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) will be set up across the country during this financial year, taking the total number of AHTUs to 325. Since their establishment in the year 2011, AHTUs have conducted more than 4,000 rescue operations through the country, rescuing 13,742 victims and arresting 7,087 traffickers.