Anti-trafficking caravan reaches Patna

The anti-trafficking caravan of the US Consulate Kolkata today reached here after covering West Bengal and Jharkhand to make people aware of human trafficking in these states.
The campaign was launched by US Consulate General Kolkata in collaboration with the city-based social enterprise 'Contact Base' and New Delhi-based NGO 'Shakti Vahini.'
The caravan, which began its journey on March 30, 2017 from West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, entered Bihar's Gaya district on April 18 with a campaign message "Be Alert, Raise Alarm#stophumantrafficking," Shakti Vahini's spokesman Rishi Kant said.
After reaching the state capital, the campaigners held a meeting of NGOs, police and govenrment officials to discuss human trafficking and the need for collective action to stop it, Kant said.

He said the caravan would visit eight districts of the state and those were Gaya, Patna, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Araria, Kishanganj, Purnea before culminating at Katihar on April 30, 2017.
"There is a need to break organised crime of human trafficking and for this, we need to strengthen Anti Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU)," Kant said.

At the end of the awareness initiative, the organisers would hold a "Trafficking In Person (TIP) Conclave" on May 12-13, 2017 in Patna, he said and added that US Consulate General would also participate in the conclave.
The General Manager of 'Contact Base' Sayanti Raychaudhuri said "we are creating awareness on two topics. These are how people especially girls are being trapped through social media and to make aware the victims of trafficking about the protection available to them under various social welfare schemes of the state governments."

Street plays, mobile exhibitions and screening of short films are parts of the awareness campaign against human trafficking, she said.