The capital city of Uttar Pradesh and all the other districts in the state will now boast of anti-human trafficking police stations (AHTU), which would keep a check on the trafficking of women and children. This is a step to ensure the ultimate safety of citizens and these stations will be taking prompt and effective action in trafficking cases.
There are 35 anti-human trafficking units in the state, as yet
As per a government order which was issued on Monday, 40 new anti-human trafficking units will be set up in UP, which would function as police stations. So far, there are 35 anti-human trafficking units in the state which were set up in 2011 and 2016 by the previous authorities who were in power. These much-needed police stations will have the authority to register FIRs, carry out investigations and take required legal action upon them, as stated by a government spokesperson.
The anti-human trafficking stations are being initiated on the directives of the central government and the funds allocated for them have been allotted by the Centre. According to the concerned spokesperson, the Centre has provided 15 lakhs each, for the 40 new police stations which is amounting to 6 crores in total. Furthermore, for the existing 35 police stations, 12 lakhs each have been granted, which is coming up to 4.20 crores.
According to reports, on the 9th of June ’11, an order was issued to set up such AHTUs in 12 districts, which included Meerut, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Agra, Jhansi, Moradabad, Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Basti, Bareilly and Maharajganj. Later on the 4th of May ’16, another 12 districts were added to the list, which was inclusive of Mau, Kanpur Nagar, Gorakhpur, Bijnor, Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Firozabad, Pilibhit, Sitapur, Ballia, Baghpat and Shahjahanpur. After 2 more months,11 more districts were added, namely, Muzaffarnagar, Kushinagar, Barabanki, Lakhimpur Kheri, Bahraich, Balrampur, Badaun, Sidharthnagar, Unnao, Hardoi and Shravasti.
