Alleging large-scale trafficking of children from tribal-dominated areas of the State due to administrative inertia, the BJP on Monday demanded immediate action to bust the racket and initiate criminal proceedings against the culprits.
A large number of children, including girls, from poor tribal families from Gajapati, Kandhamal and Ganjam districts are being lured to far-off places by dubious organisations by promising education and other facilities, BJP’s State unit vice-president Ashok Sahu told mediapersons here on Monday. Sahu further alleged that most of the organisations involved in the trafficking of children are run by Christian missionaries. This came to light after the rescue of 35 Odia children aged between three and 13 from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu recently. Several missionary organisations are illegally sending children from extremely poor families to states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu on the pretext of providing them education and better life, Sahu said, adding that they were subsequently engaged as menial labourers and domestic helps while girls sexually exploited.
Sahu, a former IPS officer, claimed that some of the children were sent to Sri Lanka and other countries. He urged the Government to find out whether children from the State are being trafficked to other countries, as indicated by some agencies.
The BJP leader further alleged that about 234 children had been kept at a place in Kanichi in Ganjam district by an organisation, which had no legal status. A similar racket is operating from a house in K-6 sector of Kalinga Nagar area in the State Capital, he claimed. Four children from Raikia, Baliguda and Tumudibandha blocks in Kandhamal district have recently escaped from a house in Kalinga Nagar and went to their villages. These children were kept in the house for over four years and they were engaged as domestic help, he said.
The Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Caste Development Department, Women and Child Development Department and police administration have failed to check the illegal activities, Sahu said and urged the Government to take action against such trafficking.
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