I am Pallabi, a human rights activist working towards preventing human trafficking for the last 12 years. I have rescued thousands of children, youth, and women during this period. However, as someone who has worked on the ground, I know many more remain trafficked and missing. And I also know that most of these incidents could have been prevented. Let me tell you how.

Human trafficking is a heinous crime and a form of modern-day slavery. It happens when individuals get transported (under force or false promises), illegally detained, and exploited to generate illegal income.

One of the critical aspects of this crime is the transportation of the victims from source areas (place of capture) to transit points and finally to the destination areas (place of detention and exploitation).

In India, the railway network is the most common mass transportation system used by millions. Therefore, it is natural that most trafficking-related transportation happens through our railway stations.

While it is complicated to rescue and rehabilitate victims, we can save millions of people from getting trafficked in the first place with increased vigilance at railway stations.

Achieving this, however, will require intent and coordination among the railway staff, law enforcement agencies, and the general public.

• The railway staff - TTEs, station staff, train crews, and onboard attendants - should be trained to look for suspicious activities of passengers and report them.
• The law enforcement agencies - general police and railway police - should be drilled to coordinate among themselves when guarding station premises and conducting raids upon being tipped off.
• The general public should be educated to spot suspicious activities of fellow passengers and encouraged to report those activities to the railway or law enforcement officials.

India's human capital is its resource. Trafficking corrupts this capital and instead generates black money that funds terrorism and other crimes. As an activist and an upstanding citizen of this country, I appeal to the government to create a framework - involving the stakeholders, as mentioned earlier - that will facilitate better vigilance at our railway stations and help curb incidents of trafficking.