COVID: MHA issues advisory to States, UTs to ensure protection for vulnerable groups
The Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday issued an advisory to all states and union territories, directing them to take cognizance of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable groups of society.
The Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday issued an advisory to all states and Union Territories, directing them to take cognizance of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable groups of society. It asked states and UTs to put adequate mechanisms in place and provide support and assistance to protect women, senior citizens, scheduled castes/scheduled tribes, and particularly children who have been orphaned due to the pandemic.
Apart from this, the MHA has directed to put institutional mechanisms in place for the eradication of human trafficking.
The advisory, undersigned by Pawan Mehta, Deputy Secretary, Women Safety Division, also drew attention to the funds received by states and UTs to put the SOPs in place.
"In order to facilitate implementation of the above guidelines, attention is drawn to Rs. 107.49 crores released to States/UTs for setting up or strengthening Women Help Desks in Police Stations", it reads.
The advisory also mandated Women Help Desks to have lawyers, psychologists, NGOs in order to assist in seeking support and rehabilitation for women.
The guidelines also mentioned protocols about inter-state communication and reporting of missing and found persons. "The states/UTs have been enabled through the provision of several IT modules by the NCRB including Cri-MAC for police to share information of inter-state relevance and a National Alert Service for Police on missing and found persons using CCTNS", it read.
The advisory said that a sum of Rs 100 crore has specifically been allocated to States and UTs for the eradication of human trafficking. The funding has been released as grants in order to strengthen or set up Anti-Human Trafficking Units or AHTUs.
"These AHTUs would be integrated task forces consisting of police, and other lines departments dealing with prevention and combating trafficking", it read.
Most notably, the advisory focuses on protecting vulnerable groups affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. States and UTs have been asked to review their existing facilities and emergency services, in order to better tackle the second wave of COVID-19.
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