The report titled 'Child Trafficking in India: Insights from Situational Data Analysis and the Need for Tech-driven Intervention Strategies' was released recently.
The new study was conducted by the NGO Games24x7 and the Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation (KSCF).
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Andhra Pradesh are the top three states with the highest number of children trafficked between 2016 and 2022.
Delhi has experienced a 68 per cent rise in child trafficking cases from pre to post-Covid times.
The number of reported incidents in the pre-Covid phase (2016-2019) was 267.
But it rose intensely to 1214 in the post-Covid phase (2021-2022).
Karnataka witnessed an 18-fold increase, increasing from 6 to 110 reported incidents of child trafficking.
Jaipur City emerged as the top district in child trafficking, with four other districts in Delhi appeared in the top slots.
As many as 13,549 children under the age of 18 were rescued during this period.
Hotels and dhabas employ the maximum number of child labourers (15.6 per cent).
It is followed by the automobile or transport industry (13 per cent), and garments (11.18 per cent).