Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09NEWDELHI2373
2009-11-24 12:18:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy New Delhi
Cable title:  

RENEWED GOI EFFORTS TO COMBAT TIP

Tags:  PGOV KCRM KCOR ELAB KWMN KOCI PHUM KTIP SOCI IN 
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VZCZCXRO6924
OO RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW
DE RUEHNE #2373/01 3281218
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 241218Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8691
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002373 

SIPDIS

DEPT PLEASE PASS TO USAID

G/TIP: MARK TAYLOR; G: DAVID YOUNG; S/GWI: SABA GHORI;
SCA/RA: JMAZZONE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/16/2019
TAGS: PGOV KCRM KCOR ELAB KWMN KOCI PHUM KTIP SOCI IN
SUBJECT: RENEWED GOI EFFORTS TO COMBAT TIP

Classified By: Acting DCM Uzra Zeya for Reasons 1.4 (B and D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002373

SIPDIS

DEPT PLEASE PASS TO USAID

G/TIP: MARK TAYLOR; G: DAVID YOUNG; S/GWI: SABA GHORI;
SCA/RA: JMAZZONE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/16/2019
TAGS: PGOV KCRM KCOR ELAB KWMN KOCI PHUM KTIP SOCI IN
SUBJECT: RENEWED GOI EFFORTS TO COMBAT TIP

Classified By: Acting DCM Uzra Zeya for Reasons 1.4 (B and D)


1. (SBU) Summary: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA),which
plays a significant role in the GOI's trafficking in persons
(TIP) efforts, seems to be taking renewed steps to overcome
India's TIP challenge. In September, the MHA issued two
advisories, one on violence against women and another on
human trafficking, aimed at focusing the attention of Indian
states on these issues and giving them guidance. The MHA has
also expanded its Anti-Human Trafficking Cell from six to ten
officials, and requested additional funding from the Planning
Commission which has expressed its support for robust
anti-TIP efforts. The GOI continues to sensitize police in
India by giving them training and raising their awareness of
TIP. The MHA may be receptive to USG police training on TIP
(See Action Request in Paragraph 8). End Summary.

NEW HOME MINISTRY ADVISORIES
--------------


2. (SBU) In an October 21 meeting, Ministry of Home Affairs
(MHA) Director Dr. Praveen Singh shared information with
Poloff on the GOI's recent anti-TIP efforts. In September,
the MHA issued an advisory on preventing and combating human
trafficking in India. This was the first such advisory on TIP
by the GOI and was formulated in consultation with the
Ministries of Women and Child Development, Labor and
Employment, and Health and Family Welfare. Key points of the
TIP advisory include implementation of legal provisions of
the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, the Juvenile Justice Act,
Prohibition of Child Marriage; capacity building of state
machinery; prevention of trafficking; investigation and
prosecution; and rescue/rehabilitation measures. The GOI
also issued an advisory the same month on "Measures Needed to
Curb Crime Against Women," the first advisory concerning

women in over five years. (Note: In India's federal
structure, law enforcement is primarily a state
responsibility. The Home Ministry, however, can urge state
governments to focus on certain topics by providing them
guidance and helping them secure GOI resources. End Note.)


3. (C) Singh told Poloff the MHA issued the advisories to
convey a strong signal on these issues to state governments.
To demonstrate the GOI's renewed focus on TIP, she
(protect) showed Poloff internal GOI memoranda. In a July
2009 memorandum to Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia of
the Planning Commission, Home Minister P. Chidambaram
highlighted weaknesses in law enforcement and requested
additional funds for anti-trafficking efforts. Dr. Singh
told Poloff that Ahluwalia agreed in principle to the request
and asked the MHA to create a more ambitious program. he
stressed that, though the GOI is committed to anti-TIP
efforts, chronic poverty in India continues to provide a
large and vulnerable pool of trafficking victims.

ANTI-HUMAN TRAFFICKING CELL EXPANDS
--------------


4. (SBU) To strengthen implementation of the advisory, Singh
stated that the MHA has expanded its Anti-Human Trafficking
Cell (AHTC) from a staff of six officials to ten, headed by a
Joint Secretary, a Deputy Secretary (from the Indian Police
Service),a Director, section officers, and support staff.
(Note: Expansion of the AHTC is one of the recommendations
for the GOI in the USG TIP Report. End Note.) Since the
Planning Commission quickly committed additional funding for
the AHTC, Singh said that the AHTC should become fully
staffed within two months. She further emphasized that
because TIP is a top priority for Home Minister Chidambaram,
there has been rapid progress in setting up a full-fledged
AHTC.


5. (SBU) The AHTC, Singh told Poloff, will serve as a central
point for the MHA to communicate with its Anti-Human
Trafficking Officers, located in each Indian state. The
AHTC's responsibility includes the monitoring of actions
taken by state governments regarding both TIP and crimes
against women. States are required to submit quarterly
reports to the AHTC. In conjunction with the National Crime
Records Bureau, the GOI's ultimate objective is to connect
all 14,000 of its linguistically diverse and geographically
dispersed police stations across the nation to improve
interstate coordination and investigation of crimes,
including TIP, through a computerized tracking and network
system. The GOI has earmarked approximately USD 440 million
in funds---an unprecedented amount---for states to implement
this ambitious project.

NEW DELHI 00002373 002 OF 002




6. (SBU) Singh stated that MHA Joint Secretary N.S. Kalsi
chaired an inter-ministerial meeting with state anti-human
trafficking officers in Delhi in August, to discuss the
functioning of anti-trafficking cells in states and measures
to effectively prevent and combat human trafficking. Singh
showed Poloff a copy of the minutes of the meeting that
detailed the various anti-TIP activities of central, state,
and local authorities.

GOI EFFORTS TO SENSITIZE THE POLICE
--------------


7. (SBU) Singh stressed that sensitizing police officers to
TIP issues remains critical since police generally are not
very literate and are preoccupied with competing priorities.
Thus, GOI efforts in this direction include 18 MHA, Bureau of
Police Research and Development (BPRD),and UN Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC)-conducted training workshops to
expand the anti-trafficking capabilities of 5,419 law
enforcement personnel in several states. Three other
national/regional level workshops on TIP trained 107 law
enforcement personnel. The GOI conducted six
"Training-of-Trainers" TIP awareness programs for 207 law
enforcement officers in Punjab, Assam, Delhi, Pune, Chennai,
and Moradabad. Singh stated the GOI will host a national
seminar on combating TIP in November---now postponed to early
January---that will include participants from GOI ministries,
UN agencies, the police, state AHT units, and possibly NGOs.
The seminar's main objective is to review existing
legislation and examine the need for a comprehensive anti-TIP
law.

COMMENT/ACTION REQUEST
--------------


8. (SBU) As the October 2010 date for the Commonwealth Games
approaches, the GOI seems increasingly concerned about its
international image. Singh confided that the GOI plans to
host an international conference on TIP in Delhi in the near
future. Poloff asked Singh whether MHA would be receptive to
U.S. TIP training for Indian law enforcement officials. Singh
said that she welcomed U.S proposals. Post recommends the
Department explore TIP-related law enforcement training
programs that we can offer India, such as those conducted by
the Department of Justice. There is likely to be some
pushback to such cooperation in parts of the Indian
bureaucracy, but we think we have a forward leaning partner
in Dr. Praveen Singh, who appears to be personally committed
to improving the GOI's anti-TIP efforts.

BIO NOTE
--------------


9. (SBU) Dr. Praveen Singh has been in her current position
for five months. She joined the Indian Administrative Service
(Railroad Division) 18 years ago from the Haryana cadre and
is on deputation to the Home Ministry. She represented the
GOI at meetings of the Bali Process on People Smuggling,
Trafficking in Persons, and Related Transnational Crimes.
Singh holds a degree in biology and speaks fluent English and
Hindi.
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