The increase in child trafficking cases in Punjab is a worrying trend that needs to be strictly controlled.

The increase in child trafficking cases in Punjab is a worrying trend that needs to be strictly controlled. According to media reports, the Dehra police in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh have made 9 arrests in a case related to child trafficking. Out of these, 6 were made in Ludhiana district. The police claim that all the arrested persons are members of an organised gang. They used to either kidnap children up to six years of age, including newborns, or else used to buy and resell them illegally. The involvement of seven women among the arrested accused makes this case even more serious. They have been arrested on charges of being involved in a conspiracy to kidnap a girl from Ludhiana district and sell it to a woman from Kangra district and collect Rs 4.85 lakh for the deal.

It is also worth mentioning here that before these arrests, six other arrests were made from Ludhiana district on charges of selling a newborn baby girl. The mother of the girl was also among the arrested women. A case like hers demands utmost sensitivity and compassion because her crime of selling the girl was the result of compulsion arising out of poverty. She had four children earlier. When the fifth child was born, her daily wage earner husband refused to take care of the girl, on which he considered it appropriate to sell the girl for just Rs 1.60 lakh. Out of this amount, five brokers including a lady doctor and a nurse took a share of Rs 60,000.

Contrary to the need to look at such cases with a different judicial scale and scrutiny, the case uncovered by the Dehra police falls under the ambit of planned and organized crimes. Such crimes should be part of a thorough and inter-state investigation. According to media reports, the criminal gang involved in the Dehra case, while taking advantage of the desire of childless parents to adopt young children and charging huge amounts of money on the pretext of making the adoption process easy, was also involved in the heinous business of kidnapping three-four-year-old children and selling them to begging gangs or those who are eager for child nudity/sexual exploitation. Investigation into the origin and functioning of such gangs can also pave the way for controlling other gangs.

The Supreme Court, while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) this month, expressed displeasure over the continuous rise in child trafficking cases. The two-judge bench that heard the case had expressed regret over the statistics of an average of eight children being abducted every day in the country and asked the central and state governments what effective steps they were taking to prevent such crimes. The matter is still pending before the apex court.

Despite such an exercise to establish such accountability, state governments are still not showing the necessary inclination to take necessary measures to control heinous crimes like child trafficking. Government records show that the practice of checking the records of maternity and child care centres or private clinics from time to time has not yet become an integral part of the state health and social security system. The Central Adoption Resource Authority (SARA), the agency overseeing the process of making the adoption of children simple but legal, has laid down clear guidelines and rules that urge hospitals, maternity centres and other health workers not to hand over newborn children to anyone other than the parents. The district-level child adoption agencies are also instructed to verify the financial status and social conduct of the couple desiring to adopt a child before approving the adoption of any child.

Such a process and verification can take time. Many couples, instead of getting involved in such legal hassles, resort to the help of brokers. Such haste or ignorance of the laws is becoming the main reason for the increase in the incidents of newborn babies being taken away from hospitals and maternity centers. According to the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Act, violating the government procedure for adopting children is a criminal offence. The couple committing such an offence can be punished with imprisonment for three years and a fine of one lakh rupees.

The punishments for other perpetrators of such crimes are even more severe. This system should be promoted regularly and prominently in hospitals and maternity and child care centers, apart from government agencies. India is ranked 21st in the global list of countries that have failed to stop child trafficking. For a country that dreams of becoming the world's third economic superpower, the above position is not a ribbon or medal, it is a place of utter humiliation.