Satyarthi wants to work with Bengal govt on anti-trafficking

Praising the West Bengal government's flagship programme 'Kanyashree' for the girl child, Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi has said he wants to work jointly with the West Bengal government on anti-trafficking issues. "I wrote a letter to her (Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee) that West Bengal has a great legacy of Nobel laureates and you consider me as one of your own supporter of West Bengal. I want to offer all my experience in this field to support you," Satyarthi said. He had already launched a collaborative anti-trafficking programme with the Assam government and was planning to do the same in other states like Meghalaya and Maharasthtra. In West Bengal, both a source and destination of human trafficking due to its geographical proximity to the border countries of Nepal and Bangladesh, The Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation was willing to work on preventive measures. 

"We have to identify the source areas of trafficking and then take preventive measures like investing more on education, ensuring attendance of all children in schools especially the girls, providing better facilities for girls and women so that traffickers cannot penetrate into their houses," he said, adding the state needed dedicated officers for children. Satyarthi praised the 'Kanyashree' scheme, which provides scholarships to girl students to prevent child marriage, but said that one scheme was not enough for the girl child. "I welcome it and admire that the government has done a good initiative but that is just one activity. Trafficking is increasing. ," said the founder of 'Bachpan Bachao Andolan'.