"A large number of children and women are reported missing every year in India. About 1, 34, 000 women are reported missing in India between 1996 and 2001.Trafficking has acquired grave dimensions with penetration of organised crime syndicates," the minister said.

He was speaking at a seminar on 'Consultation on methods to combat trafficking of children and women for commercial sexual exploitation in Tamil Nadu' in Chennai.

Venkatapathy said factors like underdevelopment, privatisation, liberalisation and commercialisation of agriculture had paved way for increase in trafficking of children and women in India.

Madras High Court Chief Justice A K Ganguly said while 30 per cent children enter prostitution after being raped, two per cent enter due to natural disasters, which increase vulnerability of women and girls.

"Human trafficking has become major money making business next to arms and drug trafficking. Illiteracy coupled with poverty is the main reason, making women and children fall prey to trafficking," he said.

Tamil Nadu DGP K P Jain said the state, which had recently figured in high supply zone for traffickers, had constituted a special cell to check trafficking.

"We have appointed nodal officers in all the districts to monitor the trafficking. Only through sensitising the society we can bring an end to this menace," he added.

UNICEF’s Tamil Nadu and Kerala Representative Dr Satish Kumar said majority of children and women were trafficked for "non-sexual activities."

Recently, trafficking for non-sexual activities had increased compared to sexual activities, he said.

About a million children were trafficked every year around the world. Children from Tamil Nadu were trafficked to states like Andhra Pradesh and Maharastra,he said.