Annual Report - National Human Rights Commission

Annexure 12
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institutionalise the functioning of these nodal officers from all states. The national agency could
function as the special rapporteur-cum-coordinator of all activities related to anti-trafficking.
Since this agency can facilitate counter-trafficking activities across all states, the states should be
willing to be associated.
NGO Coordination at the National Level
At present, NGOs function not in unison, but disparately. There is a need for coordination
among the NGOs within the states, across the states and across the borders. As of today, the
trans-border networking of selected NGOs (for example, SANLAAP, SLARTC, etc. from India,
BNWLA from Bangladesh and Maiti from Nepal) is functioning well. Similarly, NGO networks
like ATSEC and NASCET have established effective linkages. However, it is appropriate and
essential to set up a national integrated grid of the NGOs on anti-trafficking, which is linked
with the NGO groups across the borders in Nepal and Bangladesh. This could perhaps be
facilitated by an MOU similar to the one in Thailand.
GO-NGO Partnership
Collaboration of NGOs and government agencies is an essential requirement in the anti-trafficking
programmes and activities. The national nodal agency mentioned above could facilitate such
collaboration. It should, however, be borne in mind that the government agencies cannot abdicate
their responsibility and, therefore, the role of NGOs would be only complementary and not
supplementary. However, in order to achieve best results from community participation, certain
specific activities such as setting up rescue homes and counselling centres could be delegated to
the NGOs. The Andhra Pradesh model of co-management of rescue homes and having
coordination committees at the state and district levels is a good example. At many places, the
police faces acute shortage of personnel, particularly women police, and resources to cater to
such requirements. Therefore, despite court orders, repatriation gets unusually delayed. The
Tamil Nadu practice of involving NGOs in the process of repatriation, by providing adequate
resources to them, has been found to be effective. Similar examples could be thought of by other
states. Notifying them, as stated earlier, in the advisory body u/s 13(3) (b) of ITPA could strengthen
the partnership of NGOs. At the national level the NGO grid, discussed above, could be dovetailed
to the National System of Nodal Officers on Anti-Trafficking, which has been set up by the
NHRC. The initiatives for integrating the national network of NGOs and nodal officers should
be facilitated by the NHRC.
Corporate Response
The research has shown that, of late, the social responsibility of the corporates has given a strong
impetus to anti-trafficking activities. The illustrations presented in the study explain the scope
and potential of the role of corporates not only in providing financial resources, but also reducing
the vulnerabilities which lead to trafficking. Therefore, they have a large role to play in preventing
trafficking. The partnership of corporates with NGOs can be initiated by either party or could be
facilitated by the concerned government agencies. The large amounts which corporates
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