MADHYA PRADESH: Our society has named them and shamed them – all at the cost of the nation’s honour. The Kanjar and Bacchara tribes in Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh have been branded as criminals for whom women’s honour has been bought and sold for years.
For law-enforcers, force alone has not worked. "We need to reform them through education and awareness," says Ratlam SP Gaurav Tiwari. But how? The focused intervention began in early last year. The police contacted a few educated and career-oriented youngsters in the Kanjar shelters in Panth Piploda and Ukediya areas.
"The youngsters told us how the word Kanjar has stigmatised them; how the very name of the tribe has sunk their dreams and aspirations and how, not to talk of opportunities, their very presence has been detested. The 'criminal tag' has socially isolated them," says Tiwari.
The police have proceeded with caution and care. First they chose a group of educated Kanjars and involved them in crime prevention. "The attempt was to earn their trust. Education, empowerment and employment are the key elements in social reformation, and in this case, essential in not only checking crimes, but also helping the people to remove that stigma. We have succeeded to some extent, particularly among the Kanjars, and we know the task is very difficult if not insurmountable," says Tiwari.
The police officer cites a few success stories. "We sent a few talented Kanjars for skill training at the Skill Development Centre run by the L&T in Chhindwara district. Many of them underwent training at L&T facility in Hyderabad. At least nine youths from these tribes have got jobs. If they continue to work efficiently, their earnings could double, from Rs 17,000-Rs 20,000 per month to around Rs 40,000," says Tiwari.
The Ratlam police are now focusing on educating and training young Bacchara girls with a premier bank in Indore. "Once the COVID-19 pandemic slows down, the identified group of 50 girls will be sent to Indore for training as receptionists and front office professionals. We’ve already done the necessary spadework,"said the 2010 batch IPS officer.
The results of tackling the crime through 3Es (education, empowerment and employment) have started becoming visible. "The crime involving the Kanjars has dropped by 50-60 per cent. Recently, with the help of our volunteers from within the Kanjars, we managed to crack two major crimes involving the community," Tiwari added.
Even on the open roadside prostitution front, the police claims to have checked it significantly, particularly by holding education camps for Bacchara girls on weekends, when the prostitution is at its peak.
The police’s efforts of mainstreaming the underprivileged youngsters are not confined to the two tribes. The police are also working to train a group of 120 talented teenage and young girls for police recruitment tests. "It is not clear when the recruitment exercise will begin, but our talented girls have already done a good job by working as corona warriors," says Tiwari.
Ratlam district collector Ruchika Chauhan says, "We’re not only focussing on their education, empowerment and employment, but also getting pending development works done in their areas as confidence building measure. We’ve already ensured the end of long-pending drinking water woes by getting boring done in one of their residential areas and also got concrete road constructed for proper connectivity to their cremation ground."