Bihar’s Child Trafficking Network

In response to a PIL filed by Just Rights for Children (JRC), the Patna High Court has acknowledged the trafficking and exploitation of girls in orchestras across Bihar as a “serious issue” and directed the state to take urgent action.

Nature and Scale of the Crisis

• Trafficking into Orchestras – A Pervasive Pattern: Hundreds of minor girls, often under 14, have been rescued from orchestra troupes in Bihar, particularly from Saran, Gopalganj, and Muzaffarpur districts. These girls were promised jobs or training but subjected to sexual violence and inhuman living conditions.
• Bihar’s Geography and Socio-Economic Triggers: Bihar’s porous border with Nepal and railway linkages with trafficking-prone states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Odisha make it a strategic hub for trafficking, worsened by poverty, illiteracy, and lack of institutional surveillance.
• Cultural Exploitation and Commodification: In states like West Bengal, music and dance are used as cultural aspirations to lure girls. In Bihar, they are sold for as little as ?10,000 and forced to perform in degrading conditions under threats and abuse.

Institutional and Legal Shortcomings

• Legal Framework Versus Implementation Gap: India has robust laws like the POCSO Act, Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, and Juvenile Justice Act. Yet, weak enforcement, poor conviction rates, and misclassification of crimes (e.g., as ‘missing persons’) severely weaken their deterrent value.
• Dysfunctional Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs): AHTUs lack full-time officers, coordination across states is poor, and inter-state investigations collapse due to bureaucratic red tape. Even when rescues occur, survivors are often returned to abusive households.
• Judicial Intervention and Civil Society Response: JRC’s petition led to High Court intervention seeking a ban on minor employment in orchestras. However, in the absence of regulatory enforcement, these troupes continue to function with impunity.

Strategic Framework for Prevention and Justice

• The ‘PICKET’ Strategy – A Systemic Response: The proposed PICKET strategy includes Policy reforms, Institutional accountability, Convergence of digital and ground forces, Knowledge dissemination, Economic disincentives, and Technology-driven monitoring to combat trafficking.
• Role of Transport and Local Governance Mechanisms: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has initiated corridor monitoring, but this must expand to bus networks and local transport. Panchayats should maintain migratory registers and schools must track prolonged absences.
• Strengthening Prosecution and Long-Term Rehabilitation: Time-bound prosecution, asset seizure of perpetrators, and state-monitored rehabilitation must be institutionalised. Victim compensation schemes should be enforced, and survivors must never be sent back to exploitative environments.

Practice Question:

“Human trafficking in India is not merely a law and order problem but a multi-dimensional governance failure.” Critically examine this statement in the context of recent developments in Bihar, and suggest a robust framework for prevention, prosecution, and rehabilitation.      (250 words)