Recently, a report from the US Foreign Affairs department on the subject indicted the Bangladesh government for its failure to fulfill certain minimal norms aimed at ensuring that social evils like smuggling of humans, trafficking and the abuse of children were curbed.

However, the report admitted that Bangladesh had initiated steps to combat the menace. It had promulgated specific laws in 2012 to deal with the problem, but there had not been much improvement in the situation.

It was also apparent that the continuing problem of the Rohingya Muslim minority community in Myanmar had also been a major factor in human smuggling. Dubious so-called agents and others were busy in physically carrying off people in batches by boats to different countries in the region illegally, charging a high fee. Hundreds of people were killed as their boat sank or they ran out of food. Intriguingly, a good number of Bangladeshis also lost their lives along with the Rohingyas, in their bid to reach Indonesia, Malaysia or Thailand.

Of late, Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba recruiters are reported to have contacted some Rohingyas in Bangladesh and elsewhere, to train and use them as Islamic Jihadis. Some had been taken to Pakistan and sent back to Myanmar or Chittagong, to contact more people.

Disturbing as such reports are, the situation is complicated in that there is a lack of co-ordination between Bangladesh and Myanmar authorities over the problem posed by the presence of Rohingyas in the Rakhine province (Myanmar).Given the lack of any agreement between the two concerned countries, possible measures to combat illegal trafficking and smuggling of people from the troubled region do not seem likely.

Within Bangladesh again, the economic and sexual exploitation of child labour and women continues. However, the government as well as some NGOs have also been active in these areas as well, which has resulted in some improvement.

Nevertheless, Bangladesh remains a major centre for illegal trafficking of people worldwide. The UNICEF recently indicated that child development programmes had not made much progress in Bangladesh. The finding is surprising, considering Bangladesh's relatively better record in improving its human resources development indices vis-a-vis its other Asian neighbours like India or Pakistan. However, problems like early marriage of girls, from age 15 onwards, still remain in some areas. While 50% of the women in the 20-24 age-group were found to have married before they were 18, according to a survey.

Ironically while Bangladeshi authorities can at least point to certain measures they have initiated to improve their human resources development process, West Bengals presents a sadly contrasting picture. It seems no government exists, when it comes to combatting crimes or malpractices related to deeply embedded social evils. The performance of the Trinamool Congress-run state government has reached abysmal levels of inefficiency, not only vis-a-vis Bangladesh, but in comparison with other Indian States as well

Recent reports in the Kolkata-based print media depict an alarming picture of Bengal's administrative decline. The state has the worst record in the smuggling of children among five states with an international border, in India. What is even worse, the state police has been able to solve very few cases of crime, recording an all time low among the states. The Chief Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee is in charge of the police portfolio.

The number of girl children going missing or getting abducted in the state was 2359 in 2012, 5667 in 2013 and 5772 in 2014,showing an upward trend. Again, whereas in 2012 the number of girls missing in India's states with an international border was 398, Bengal alone accounted for 338 of them — far ahead of Assam, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and others.

As for the performance of the Bengal police, one fact should suffice. In2014, there were 5466 cases of smuggling of humans in India, Bengal accounting for 1096 of them. In Tamil Nadu, 834 people were arrested and punished in 2014 in these cases, 243 in Kerala and 420 in Rajasthan.

In West Bengal, only one person (you read that right!) was punished last year, while 1096 cases were recorded. (IPA Service)