The British Deputy High Commission, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, as part of its outreach initiative, has embarked on a pilot project to check the alleged trafficking in girls in the Agency area of the district.
A formal meeting with the stakeholders was organised by Chaitanya Shravanthi, an NGO, in association with the British Deputy High Commission, at Paderu on Tuesday.
The session was chaired by Deputy High Commissioner Andrew Fleming.
Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Fleming said the project was taken up after reports of rampant trafficking had made headlines.
“Basically, we will be focusing on addressing the issue and creating awareness among the girl children. We have selected Chaitanya Shravanthi to lead the project,” Mr. Fleming said.
“To begin with, 12 Tribal Welfare Schools in Paderu mandal have been identified, where awareness programmes will be taken up by using the innovative Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material and audio-visual tools,” Mr. Fleming explained.
Ms. Malini of Chaitanya Shravanthi said the ground realities point towards an increase in trafficking right from the girls hostels to high schools, and we would like to highlight this to the stakeholders such as teachers, principals, wardens, police, community leaders and lawmakers.
Legal counselling
Ms. Nalini Raghuraman, Political and Economy Advisor, British Deputy High Commission, said, apart from creating awareness, legal counselling would also be part of the project. “We need to track, report, counsel and follow up,” she said.
