Human trafficking has emerged as the fastest rising crime, an increase of over 25 per cent in 2015, according to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Telangana have reported the highest number of such cases.
• >However, the overall incidents of crime in 2015 increased by merely 1.4 per cent as compared to 7.5 per cent in 2014.
• >The NCRB’s annual report is likely to be released by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh .
• >According to it, nearly 6,500 incidents of human trafficking were registered across the country in 2015 — up from 5,400 such cases in 2014.
• >Human trafficking, according to the NCRB, includes crime such as “importation of girls from foreign country, procuration of minor girls, buying of minors for prostitution, selling of minors for prostitution” and crimes under Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956.
• >A Home Ministry official said that the sharp rise in number of human trafficking cases is due to special focus of both the state and the Central governments on stemming the menace. In December last year, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre to complete within six months the consultation process for a comprehensive law on prevention of human trafficking.
• >“The numbers show that the state governments are taking the issue seriously, and more such cases are being registered. Earlier, many cases would go unreported.”
NCRB
The National Crime Records Bureau, abbreviated to NCRB, is an Indian government agency responsible for collecting and analysing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC). NCRB is headquartered in New Delhi and is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India. The current Director of NCRB is Radha Krishna Kini A (IPS) who replaced Archana Ramasundaram in February 2016.
The NCRB is pushing for data audit of state crime records bureaus (SCRBs), as it is suspected that many states do not represent crime data in the proforma approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs for tabulation of illegal acts.
The plan has not yet been approved by the ministry, but it intends to streamline data collection in the country.According to sources, there is often discrepancy in data reported through various sources in the state and that sent to NCRB for collation. This, sources said, is due to various reasons, including poor understanding of data collation, difference in understanding of a crime category and possible deliberate fudging.
