The report titled "Child Trafficking in India: Insights from Situational Data Analysis and the Need for Tech-driven Intervention Strategies" was released on July 30, which coincided with the "World Day against Trafficking in Persons."
Jaipur: According to the reports, Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, has emerged as the most prominent destination for trafficked children in the country over the last six years. The total number of children rescued with KSCF interventions from 2016 to 2022 was reported to be 13,549.
The report indicates that Jaipur accounts for approximately 9% of the total rescued children, with 1,115 children rescued from this district. However, it also acknowledges the aggressive efforts of the Rajasthan government to make the state “child labor-free.”
Following Jaipur, two districts from the national capital, North Delhi (5.24% of total rescues) and Northwest Delhi (5.13% of total rescues), ranked high on the list of districts with rescued children. The report includes five districts from Delhi in the top 10 districts with the highest number of rescued children.
The study also points out that Rajasthan experienced a surge in the average number of trafficked children, with the figure rising to 99 in the post-Covid years (2021-22) compared to 48 in the pre-Covid years (2016-20). Overall, there has been a significant increase in the number of trafficked children before and after the Covid pandemic, reflecting the damaging impact of the pandemic on the trafficking situation in the country.
Uttar Pradesh leads the states with the highest average number of trafficked children per year, reporting 267 cases in the pre-Covid phase (2016-19) and a significant increase to 1,214 cases in the post-Covid phase (2021-22), marking an increase of over 350%. Bihar and Andhra Pradesh follow UP, making up the top three states from where the maximum number of trafficked children were rescued on average per year.
Karnataka witnessed a staggering increase in the average number of trafficked children per year, soaring from six cases before Covid to 110 after Covid, representing an 18-fold increase. Interestingly, Kerala did not report any cases as a source state after Covid, according to the report.
