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12 the association news from assam with Romen Goswami human trafficking on rise in Assam ASSAM is seeing an increasing trend in the number of women and children who are being trafficked, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes. The UN body reported that recurring floods in Assam have led to the displacement of a large population and traffickers have targeted victims of such disasters. Other reasons include poverty, insurgency and communal clashes. The State Crime Records data shows the total number of missing children in 2011 was 1,565, up from 899 two years previously. In 2011, the number of girls trafficked was more than double, compared to the boys – and the number of trafficked women went up from 600 in 2009 to 1,243 two years later. In the report, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) sites that Assamese women and children are trafficked across India – Delhi, Mumbai, Punjab, and Gujarat – for sexual exploitation, labour and forced marriages. trafficking more than doubles in two years Vulnerable areas in Assam include Nagaon, Morigaon, Dimakuchi and Karimganj districts, particularly at the Mizoram and Bangladesh borders. Illegal recruitment agencies have also been very active in the North East. Many of these agencies lure women and girls into exploitative working conditions abroad. Victims from Nagaland were rescued from Malaysia after they had been sold to prostitution rackets. The travel agents operating under the guise of an NGO, Abel and Leo Private Limited, had lured girls from the Seven Sisters with domestic work in Singapore and Malaysia. But in one instance, the victims were sold to a nightclub in Kuala Lumpur. Another aspect to the problem was revealed in The Observer – how low wages for tea pickers in Assam fuel India’s trade in child slavery. Plantation workers on 12p an hour are easy prey for traffickers who lure away their daughters to India’s cities – 100,000 girls as young as 12 may be under lock and key in Delhi alone. A girl is sold by the trafficker to an agent for as little as £45, sold again to an employer for up to £650, where they are kept as slaves, raped and abused. It is a 21st Century slave trade. Pressure is now growing on big tea brands to ensure better pay. Manipur king ends his fast over palace eviction THE TITULAR king of India’s Manipur state, Leishemba Sanajaoba, has ended a hunger strike that he started in protest against the state government’s decision to evict him from his ancestral palace. The king began his fast on 24 June and only broke his fast after being requested to do so by women’s groups and non -governmental organisations. They wanted the king to start dialogue with the Manipur government. The Manipur royal family occupied the Kangla Palace – now a museum – after the 1891 Anglo-Manipur War and built the Sana Konung for the royals to live in. State officials want to take over the Sana Konung Palace and develop it as a heritage site despite a 2006 agreement that reportedly states that no decision about the palace would be taken without the monarch’s consent. The king says he feels betrayed. The government says the takeover will ensure that royal artefacts will be preserved for future generations.
the association 13 Riddhiman Das was seven when he sat in front of a computer, nine when he became a coder, and 22 when he met the US president the man from Jorhat who made a forest JADAY PAYENG is the man who created the forest singlehandedly in Jorhat - 350km from Guwahati. The forest is a safe haven for birds, deer, rhinos, tigers and elephants – species increasingly at risk from habitat loss. It all started way back in 1979 when floods washed a large number of snakes ashore on the sandbar. One day, after the waters had receded, Payeng, only 16 then, found the place dotted with the dead reptiles.That was the turning point of his life. Now 47, Payeng said: “The snakes died in the heat, without any tree cover. I sat down and wept over their lifeless forms. It was carnage. “I alerted the forest department and asked them if they could grow trees there. They said nothing would grow there. Instead, they asked me to try growing bamboo. It was painful, but I did it. “There was nobody to help me. Nobody was interested.” Leaving his education and home, he started living on the sandbar. Payeng willingly accepted a life of isolation. He followed the forest department’s advice and planted lots of bamboo. After a few years, the sandbar was transformed into a bamboo thicket. After this success, he decided to grow proper trees. He collected many kinds of different plants for planting. He also transported red ants from his village, which help change the soil’s properies, and he was stung many times in the process. The spot today hosts a sprawling 1360 acres of jungle that Payeng planted – singlehandedly. The Assam state forest department learnt about Payeng’s forest only in 2008. Locals, whose homes had been destroyed by the pachyderms, wanted to cut down the forest, but Payeng dared them to kill him instead. He treats the trees and animals like his own children. Payeng has been at it for 30 years. Had he been in any other country, he would have been made a hero – though now he is finally getting the recognition he deserves. innovator wins white house award IT PROBABLY never crossed the mind of sevenyear-old Riddhiman Das as he sat at in front of his computer in Guwahati that 15 years later he would receive an award from the President of the United States for his achievements as an immigrant innovator and entrepreneur. This summer, Das was recognised for his invaluable contribution in computer science and its application for the welfare and progress of the US at the “Champions of Change Award” event at the White House. It was the 22-year-old’s second meeting with Barack Obama, after he received the US Ignite Next -Generation Developers’ recognition last January – making him one of the most sought after software developers in the industry. The White House explained in a statement: “As an undergraduate student, he co-founded three start-up tech companies and is also heavily involved with a Kansas City-based technology startup that has commercialised the EyePrint verification System as a simple, safe replacement for entering passwords on smart phones.” Accolades for the former student of Guwahati’s Don Bosco School have been coming in for many years. He was honoured as one of the 10 best undergraduates by Bill Gates and Google called him as one of the world’s top 10 graduates in 2012.
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