Journey to Home

Vikram, a physically handicapped man was sorting through the mountains of trash along with his wife and three kids. This was the only form of livelihood for him and many such families.  Geeta (name changed) his small daughter was staring at people eating Samosas at a nearby stall. She was tempted to eat it, but she knew that she can’t afford it, and in desperation, she threw dust in a person’s plate. That person was enraged, slapped Geeta, and threw his plate in dustbin, and Geeta picked that plate up to relish the Samosa. This unfortunately became a habit for her. This is not a piece of fiction but real life story of people from Pardhi community in Agar-Malwa district of Madhya Pradesh. 

There are many Nomadic communities in country such as Kaalbeliya, Pardhi, Gadoliya etc. Their lives are full of similar kind of problems and they had to beg or sift through trash to earn a living. This community was disappointed by abysmal attitude of society towards them and could not get over the complex of being a person of lower caste, a tag, which was forced upon them. 

This community which was ignored by everyone was helped by R.S.S. A separate organization was created by R.S.S. to help the Nomadic communities and worked for their upliftment. However, the task of bringing this community to mainstream was not easy. Agar’s Nomad community’s district head of R.S.S., Mr. Harsh Tiwari, states that it took many years of hard work to accomplish this change. Earlier skepticism was so deeply rooted that even a day care center, which was opened to help their kids had to be closed thrice. This scenario starts changing slowly but steadily, as R.S.S. gained their trust that they are there to help them. 

Mr.Ravi Bundela, one of the prominent faces in bringing this change states that Nomad communities could not take benefit from any of the government schemes due to lack of documents. The first task done was to make a list of 50 families residing in the Agar Malwa district of Madhya Pradesh and arrange for their Aadhar cards and Ration cards, which gave them identity proofs and thus they came into the mainstream of society. They were then enrolled under the MNREGA scheme and were given labour cards under village panchayat schemes. This helped them earn daily wages rather than begging. Their kids were also admitted in government schools.

The best thing was Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojna (Prime Minister Housing Scheme) which benefitted these families immensely, as they got a home, a roof over their heads, and did not have to wander anymore. Their Journey to home was complete. Vikram, now goes to work from his own home and elated at the sight of watching his kids going to school in their uniforms. A roof over their heads has boosted their confidence so much that this community refused to take help during Corona situation and in fact the youth extended help from their side.

Contact: - Ravi Bundela                  

87701 19986