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Odisha Proposes Nutan Sakala Policy to Fight Human Trafficking, Strengthen Prosecution

29 Jul 2026, 07:47 by Vinay Kakkad · KalingaTV

The Odisha government has drafted a comprehensive anti-trafficking policy that proposes sweeping institutional and legal reforms aimed at preventing the trafficking of women and girls, shifting the state’s response from rescue-focused interventions to a survivor-centred framework.

The proposed policy, titled Nutan Sakala (New Dawn), has been prepared by the Women and Child Development Department and circulated among senior police officers for feedback before its finalisation. As of now, it remains a draft under consultation and has not been formally notified.

Built around four core pillars—prevention, protection, prosecution and partnership—the policy seeks to create a coordinated response involving government agencies, law enforcement bodies and local institutions to curb trafficking and strengthen support for survivors.

The draft identifies several structural factors that continue to leave women and girls vulnerable to trafficking in Odisha. According to Census 2011 data, nearly 83.3% of the state’s population lives in rural areas, where access to formal markets, social protection mechanisms and livelihood opportunities remains limited. The policy also notes that Scheduled Tribes account for 22.85% of Odisha’s population, with tribal communities disproportionately represented among trafficking victims because of persistent poverty, social exclusion and low levels of legal awareness.

Migration-linked trafficking has emerged as a particular concern across several districts. The policy identifies Balangir, Bargarh, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Subarnapur, Sundargarh, Khorda, Ganjam, Puri, Gajapati, Kendrapada, Rayagada, Koraput and Nabarangpur as long-standing source regions for distress migration and trafficking. Many people leaving these districts in search of work reportedly become victims of sexual exploitation, forced labour, domestic servitude and forced marriage.

To address these vulnerabilities, the policy recommends interventions at the community level through awareness campaigns, life-skills education in schools, demand-reduction initiatives and stronger monitoring of migration. It also proposes maintaining village migration registers to track distress migration and identify individuals at greater risk before exploitation occurs.

For survivors, the government plans to establish Integrated Victim Support Centres (IVSCs) at the state and district levels. These centres would function as single-window facilities providing medical treatment, legal aid, psychosocial counselling and referral services, enabling survivors to access rehabilitation and justice through a coordinated support system.

The draft also seeks to strengthen investigation and prosecution by recommending financial probes into trafficking networks, attachment of assets linked to trafficking operations, dedicated judicial mechanisms and the creation of a non-lapsable Nutan Sakala Corpus Fund to finance anti-trafficking initiatives and long-term rehabilitation programmes.

At the same time, the policy acknowledges that some of its recommendations—including amendments to central laws and expanding the scope of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 to cover trafficking-related offences—would require action by the Union government.

The proposed reforms come against the backdrop of Odisha’s continued struggle with trafficking and weak legal outcomes. The National Crime Records Bureau’s Crime in India 2023 report recorded 1,305 trafficked victims in the state—the highest among all states—while 1,246 victims were rescued during the year. The draft also highlights shortcomings in criminal justice delivery. Despite identifying 707 survivors and arresting 65 suspected traffickers in 2021, the state recorded no convictions. In 2023, only 182 of the 298 arrested persons were charge-sheeted, resulting in a charge-sheeting rate of 61%, underscoring persistent gaps in prosecution and legal accountability.

The Odisha Home Department’s Annual Activity Report 2023–24 states that the state currently operates 37 Integrated Anti-Human Trafficking Units across 36 police districts under the State Crime Against Women and Children wing. Through Nutan Sakala, the government aims to move beyond rescue-centric interventions by creating an integrated framework that combines prevention, prosecution, rehabilitation and inter-agency coordination. The draft will undergo further consultations before a final policy is adopted.