Hope Rajya Sabha will pass anti-trafficking bill: Maneka Gandhi

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi Saturday expressed hope that the proposed anti-trafficking bill would be passed by the Rajya Sabha in the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament.

The bill provides for confidentiality of victims, witnesses and complainants, time-bound trials and repatriation of the victims.

"We are waiting for the anti-trafficking bill to come. The Lok Sabha has already passed the bill, and I am hoping that the Rajya Sabha will pass it," Gandhi told reporters when asked about her ministry's bills coming in the Winter Session.

The Lok Sabha had passed The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018 during the Monsoon Session of Parliament in July,.

Gandhi had said the legislation did not intend to harass sex workers and it was intended to go after human traffickers and not the victims.

"This is a bill that has a compassionate view of people who have been victims of sex rackets," Gandhi had said.

The legislation proposes to create institutional mechanisms at the district, state and central levels. It calls for punishment ranging from 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine not less than Rs 1 lakh.

Besides prevention, rescue and rehabilitation, it covers aggravated forms of trafficking such as forced labour, begging and marriage.

At the event organised at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts on Saturday, the Union minister also interacted with school children about her upcoming book - 'There's a Monster Under my Bed! and Other Terrible Terrors' which is expected to release in January.

The book, inspired by her granddaughter, talks about children's fears and how to deal with them.

Talking to reporters about her book, Gandhi said, "Children are scared of many things and we need to deal with those fears..."