To assist victims of trafficking and their families, the West Bengal Government has passed a notification allowing them to stay at Banga Bhavan building in central Delhi on concessional rates. From the existing rate of Rs.500 per bed, the rate has been reduced to Rs.125 per bed, which is the rate enjoyed by government servants not on duty, said officials.
The request was first put forward to the West Bengal Government by NGO Shakti Vahini, which works with and supports victims of trafficking.
“We received a request from the Department of Child Development earlier this year, following which the Public Works Department of the West Bengal Government issued orders allowing assigning governmental concessional rates to victims and survivors of trafficking and their family members,” said a senior Banga Bhawan official.
He added that in the last two months, six victims and their families had stayed at the Banga Bhawan at Hailey Road at concessional rates while attending legal proceedings. All victims had worked as domestic workers.
“Since January 2013, we have rescued 45 victims of trafficking from West Bengal working in Delhi. Often, the first challenge after victims of trafficking get rescued is to find alternate accommodation for them and their families who arrive from remote villages,” said Rishi Kant of NGO Shakti Vahini.
“This will be very supportive of the victims’ rights, and other States with high number of cases of trafficking like Jharkhand, Assam and Chhattisgarh should consider adopting the same policy,” he added.
