The Bedia community in Madhya Pradesh has a dark history. It has always forced it's daughters to engage in demeaning works such as prostitution while the boys used to serve as agents for these girls and their respective customers. However, the people from the same community have taken a resolve to end this age-old practice and head for a bright and respectful future.

Around 5,000 children, teenagers, and young adults from the Bedia community are spread across various villages and districts in the Bundelkhand region, including, Bhopal, Rajgarh, Vidisha, Sagar, Raisen, and Guna. They have long since forgotten their dark past and are looking forward to succeeding in a variety of fields ranging from civil, professional, and vocational fields.

Students are already making this dream come to reality by rising and qualifying for various examinations. Earlier, the students here couldn't even make up to the eighth grade or for that matter even failed to complete their junior curriculum and studies.

One classic example is of a girl who not only completed her Bachelor's and Master's in the Technological field of studies. She not only did qualify for the prelims examination but also the mains examination under UPSC. She is looking forward to qualifying for the final interview round and aspires to become a civil servant. She feels that the authority and power of the position will help her to alleviate the suffering of the Bedia community. She is not the only one to hold such high ambitions. There are many more boys and girls from the same community, especially coming from marginalized groups, who are also looking forward to securing laurels in professional degrees.

Along with other founding members of the Bhopal-based NGO 'Samvedna', Dr. Veerendra Mishra, a 1995 batch MP State Police Officer who has later promoted to the cadre of IPS in 2011. This civil servant is leading these dreamers toward their goal of putting an end to the inter-generational prostitution menace in the Bedia community by educating and developing awareness amongst it's youth. He is currently posted as Assistant Inspector General of police-AIG of MP State Industrial Security Force in Bhopal.

Samvedna was founded in 2002. The officer set out to educate and train children in technological and professional knowledge especially from the slum areas to prevent the emergence of further deviance in society. Still, it has been discovered that this evil has not ended completely. In areas where still these communities predominate, it has been found that the women were encouraging their daughters to become prostitutes once they reached the age of puberty.

Some of the children from the community have enrolled themselves in formal education but some due to the stigma of not having identifiable fathers are stopping themselves. In such situations, where the children who are already facing identity crises keep on getting downtrodden in the social structure. Forced education policies have been implemented to decrease the number of drop-outs. The entire aim of this programme is to secure a dignified group for these children. Although, everything is taking place with the consent of the families involved. The effort is being attempted to be extended to a larger circle in the community thereby resolving the major issues. Anti-trafficking issues steps are being discussed. The organisation has also developed a village in Rajgarh district as Kabbadi village with the help of sports and police departments.

The example discussed here underlines that the age-old traditional evils cannot perpetuate further in society if timely actions are intercepted. Awareness and cognitiveness are the barometers for the solution of a problem. A well-equipped and integrated approach can lead to conclusive results in curbing the flesh trade.

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Reference:

• newsindianexpress.com
• freepressjournal.in