Action plan developed to increase convictions in child labour cases

Prayas Juvenile Aid Centre (Prayas JAC) hosted a Consultation in collaboration with National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) on assisting the victims of trafficking.

The consultation was chaired by Naveen Gupta, Additional Director, NALSA and Amod K. Kanth, General Secretary, Prayas JAC. The consultation was attended by Ms. Helen Sekar,Faculty, V. V. Giri National Labour Institute; Ms. Archana, Director, RSLSA; Ms. Shradha, Rajasthan Police Academy, members from Human Liberty Network, Swaniti, NHRC, NCPCR, Childline, DCPUs, and other NGOs.

Tens of thousands of children are working as child labourers in workshops of Jaipur. Prayas JAC, has helped in repatriating over 2000 victims of child labour in Bihar along with the Government Departments of Rajasthan and Bihar. In cases of children trafficked from Bihar, that are pending in Jaipur courts, victims face challenges like

. Lack of victim/witness protection

. Lack of conviction in cases of trafficking as Panel Lawyers not available to assist victims in follow up

. Non-availability of video conferencing facility at District/State level for testimonies

. Non-delivery State Victim Compensation Scheme due to lack of proper documentation

. Non-delivery State Victim Compensation Scheme due to lack of proper documentation witness courts in every state. Although, convictions are less, the news of convictions should be publicized. A data bank of CSOs working in this field needs to be created to work in collaboration."

The main focus of the meeting was to devise an action plan to link the survivors of human trafficking with various existing Schemes and Programs of NALSA, so that they are able to get justice.

Aamod K Kanth, General Secretary, Prayas (JAC) said, "The Action Plan, prepared in collaboration with NALSA will help the victims of child labour and child trafficking (especially in Rajasthan and Bihar) in reducing pendency of cases, enhancing reporting of cases, proper follow up during trials and effective delivery of various compensation scheme."

This story is provided by NewsVoir.