Child trafficking is rampant in the tribal zone of south Rajasthan. Many incidents suggest that people in the tribal areas in Udaipur, Banswara, Dungarpur and Pratapgarh districts are forced to 'mortgage' their children due to poverty, lack of education and unemployment.
Even as the administration and NGOs battle against the menace, a government school teacher in Udaipur, Durga Ram Muwal, has made it his life mission to rescue such children.
He has developed his own network of 'informers' on the lines of the police department through which he tries to save children from forced labour in states like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Durga Ram has saved over 40 children in the past eight years. Durga Ram belongs to Nagaur district, and has been teaching in a tribal village of Udaipur for over a decade.
Soon after he took up his job at a government school in Pargiyapada village, about 60 km from Udaipur, Durga Ram noticed a peculiar trend: some students would suddenly stop coming to school. He came to know that children had been taken away to work as child labourers by middlemen, at times in connivance with their parents.
"This area is near the Gujarat border. I was told that ‘dalals’ (middlemen) take away our students for forced labour in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. For a paltry Rs 50 a day, these kids are forced to work for 18 hours a day and often exploited in other ways too," recalls Durga Ram.
When a girl studying in his class returned after working for a few months, her condition shocked him. "When I came to know that she had even been physically abused, I decided that I must do something for these children," said Durga Ram. He began with an awareness campaign.
He would motivate the tribals against the dangers of child labour and also advise them not to agree to the dalals’ demands. He also told the children not to fall into the middlemen’s trap and instead focus on their studies. He was ready to receive their calls any time in case of an emergency. His efforts led him to win the trust of not just his students but of tribal families in a region where a whole network of middlemen known as ‘Meit’ is active.
"The police often have a shortage of staff and they tend to overlook complaints. So, we step in and collaborate with NGOs, and contact the collector through a child helpline created in the region. Through collective efforts and public pressure, we are able to save children in distress," says Durga Ram.
He recalls an incident two years ago when he received a call from some children that they were confined at a chemical factory in Andhra Pradesh, and that he should save them. The kids gave him the name of their 'dalal', Durga Ram soon got all his details through his informers.
"I spoke to the Dalal and pretended to be a police officer. I told him that the parents had lodged an FIR and that if the kids are not returned within a week, he would be in serious legal trouble," says Durga Ram.
His effort bore fruit and the panicky ‘dalal’ ensured that the children returned to the village within a few days. Recently, Durga Ram played a critical role in freeing two teenage girls from a 'dalal' in Gujarat. He took the parents of 13-year old Manju Pargi and 14-year old Mariyam Pargi to lodge an FIR in the local police station in December 2019.
Within days, the fear of the law and public pressure forced the middleman to return the two sisters. "My daughters were taken away by a 'dalal'. We appealed to Durga Ram ji for help. He along with the police saved my daughters. Such was the pressure on the ‘dalal’ that he returned two other girls along with my daughters," says the father of the girls, Shantilal Pargi.
Local tribals respect Durga Ram and trust him as a courageous activist and a committed teacher who shares his mobile number with everyone in the region so that he can be accessed easily. The Udaipur District Collector and the District Education Officer recently sought Durga Ram’s suggestions to combat child labour and trafficking.
His advice was: form a strong trustworthy team that works on a daily basis to protect children from middlemen. "I have faced dangers in my life. But I believe that there is a much larger force, a divine force that protects us. I will continue my work till my last breath," says Durga Ram.
WHEN HE RESCUED KIDS FROM ANDHRA FACTORY
Durga Ram recalls an incident two years ago when he received a call from some children that they were confined at a chemical factory in Andhra Pradesh, and that he should save them. The kids gave him the name of their ‘dalal’, Durga Ram soon got all his details through his informers. “I spoke to the dalal and pretended to be a police officer. I told him that the parents had lodged an FIR and that if the kids are not returned within a week, he would be in serious legal trouble,” says Durga Ram. His effort bore fruit and the panicky ‘dalal’ ensured that the children returned to the village within a few days