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 Mr. Naveen Gupta, Addittional Director, NALSA and Mr. 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.

• 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

Mr. Naveen Gupta, Addittional Director, NALSA said, “There is an urgent need to establish vulnerable 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”

About Prayas JAC

Prayas JAC was formed in 1988, through the collaborative efforts of the Delhi Police, the Delhi School of Social Work and Shramik Vidyapeeth aimed at reorganizing and rebuilding the lives of such children.

Among over 50 Projects, Prayas operates 242 centres with more than 700 professionals including 47 Homes/Shelters for children, 53 Vocational Training Centers, across the country in 09 States/UTs directly serving about 50,000 marginalized children, youth and women addressing multiple issues and initiating programs relating to child protection and juvenile justice, trafficking of children and women, vocational and life skills training, empowerment of women through Self-Help Groups and Income Generation Programmes, promotion of entrepreneurship, facilitating credit through bank linkages and also direct micro finance operations.

For nearly 27 years, Prayas has been and continues to be involved in meaningful, development-driven initiatives that distinctly impact the quality of life of the weaker-sections of the society, in hundreds of slums/villages surrounding the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Bihar, Gujarat, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Jharkhand and the Tsunami devastated Andaman & Nicobar Islands.