By Our Reporter
Shillong: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has expressed concern over reports that children from Bangladesh are being trafficked to India through border areas.
To assess the situation, an NCPCR team arrived in the city on Thursday to discuss the matter with the State Government.
“We have even planned to visit the border areas to get a first hand idea on the matter,” NCPCR member, Dr Yogesh Dube, said on Thursday.
The team will visit Jaintia Hills on Friday to review the child labour situation there as it is estimated that a large chunk of child labourers in the State are engaged in coal mines in Jaintia Hills district.
The team is also scheduled to meet the State Chief Secretary, Secretary of Labour and Employment and Social Welfare departments, and other senior officers of Education, Home and Health departments to discuss and review the child labour scenario in Jaintia Hills and look into the complaints received from the State.
According to Dube, the committee in its last meeting had given certain recommendations to the State over the protection of child rights and the committee will seek answers from the State Government on the status of the recommendations.
We believe that our recommendations have been implemented partly and we will discuss this in the meeting,” he added, while stating that the meeting will also discuss the inordinate delays in receipt of reports from the State.
During their three-day visit to the State, the NCPCR team would also meet representatives of a number of NGOs to discuss various problems faced by the children in the State.
The NCPCR team comprises of Dr. Yogesh Dube and Vinod Kumar Tikoo, both members, besides Dr.Ramanath Nayak, who is senior consultant of the NCPCR.