Aren’t they one of us?

They have been branded for life, as thieves and dacoits , inspite of their sterling contribution to our society, through out history, with their artisan and fighting skills..These are the most backward, of the backward people, living a life of penury and fear, that we, the member of free and civilized society can not even imagine..
They are nomadic tribe, known as Bhatke Vimukta.. mainly the Phanse Paradhi community..
During the British era, they opposed the Britain’s atrocities and fought bitterly..In return, the British declared them as criminals..and they were forced to remain within the demarked area, within their settlement..and lead the life worse than that of animals.. British left India in 1947 but the misery of these fellow countrymen continued. As they were termed as criminals and banned by law to be the part of civilized society, they continued with their miserable living.. totally cut off from the mainstream, even after India attained independence. In 1960, the then Hon. P.M. of India, Late Shri Jawaharlal Nehru, on his visit to Nasik in Maharashtra, learned about the anguish and was deeply touched. He immediately abolished the merciless commandment..but just by removing the bylaw was not sufficient to bring them into the intricate woven fabric of the society.. They had to be accepted as part and parcel of our society, after being treated as criminals for generations, it was no mean task..Due to non-acceptance into the mainstream, many of them turned back to criminal ways to fill their stomachs .. Many of them tried to earn a living, by earning from the forest produce and by displaying their skills in performing arts like singing, street plays, acrobats etc. But it was a difficult task..and as they wandered from one place to another..with no shelter over their head and no proper source of permanent livelihood, their lives were full of agony..To severe them from these mishaps and to treat them equally, the only option is to educate them..imbibe their children with good values or “samskaras” and train them for the new world with an ambition to come out of lives of depravity..
BHATKE VIMUKTA VIKAS PRATISHTHAN [BVVP] has plunged in this uphill task since last 14 years. It has been a very tough journey due to deeply ingrained prejudice in the society against them. [Some time back, a boy belonging to this community who had studied till std. 12, after lot of cajoling and counseling and whose mother had gone through innumerable hardships to make her son educate and lead a decent life, was murdered without any investigation by the fellow village men in the case of roadside robbery..and the police force was the mere spectator.] With system out to haunt them rather than help them, they are perpetually forced to lead a life of begging and crime. It is rather difficult for the children to educate themselves, as they no home or land to call their own and their parents or family may be in a lock up..
In spite of these problems, the BVVP has been able to make a positive mark in their lives. Today nearly 600 students are studying in their schools and staying in hostels at four centers in Maharashtra..Two years back the first ever batch of successful SSC students came out..
Yamgarwadi is a small village located in post Nanduri, Tahsil Tuljapur, district Osmanabad in Maharashtra state..This project was stated in 1993 on an 18 acre land donated by an ex-serviceman, Shri Ramesh Chatufale. Initially there were 25 boys but now it has grown into multifaceted project with following activities..
1. Eklavya Primary Residential School. This school was granted State recognition in 1996 for classes up to 7th, with nearly 300 students, but the sad truth is that this number keeps fluctuating as sometimes the parents pull their wards out to move away to another area or engage them in raising family income. Now, focus is on nurturing their inherent skills like knowledge about nature, sports and arts.
2. Secondary School. This school goes up to state level board examination. The first batch of 7 nomadic students passed out securing 63 to 83% marks in 2005-06. In 2007-08, 12 students passed out with 100% result. This is a landmark for the community.
3. Shabarimata Girls Hostel. Educating girls in the nomad tribes is considered taboo. The arrival of a 7 year old girl at the doorstep of the institution, abandon at the bus-stop, marked the beginning of this project a few years back.. This little girl was witness to her mother’s murder, at the hands of her father. The girl was given the much needed parental care and education. Today, the center has more than 100 girls. It is a matter of pride that one of this girls has become a school teacher and another one has joined police force.
4. Health Centers. Nomadic gypsy communities are always on the move. As a rule, their kids are not inoculated, resulting in higher incidents of minor or even crippling diseases. Some socially commited pediatricians, gynaecologists and pathologists visit Yamgarwadi project regularly to do health check-ups of the students. They also provide medicines and related services.
5. Anasarwada Project. This project was initiated in 1995 in Anasarwada village by GOPAL SAMAJ VIKAS PARISHAD for a community known for its skills in cattle rearing [hence the name Gopal] , gymnestics, games and wrestling. Due to lack of social support, they ended begging for survival. GSVP started with an objective to rehabilitate this tribe.
6. Nerale Project. Bhatu Kolhati community is another large group within gypsy communities known for its skills in circus, acrobats on the roadside and women playing a major part in these games. The condition of women in this community has deteriorated due to lack of state support and the hapless women being trapped in degrading circumstances and exploited physically and mentally and ending up with dreaded diseases like Aids. etc..BHATU KOLHATI VIKAS PARISHAD was formed in Nerale, near Tahsil Karmala, district Solapur in Maharashtra.
7. Palavarchi Anubhav Shala. BVVP understands that no. in school drop out ratio of such students is high as the children of these family keep roaming. “If they can not go to the school, lets take the school to them”, is their motto and with this thought, a highly flexible schooling has been devised by BVVP. There are seven such schools under the scheme.
Bhatke Vimukta Vikas Prathishthan is indeed doing a great job, of these deserted and uncared for brothers and sisters. But, it is not yet sufficient..and miles to go on the path of their uplift ... We all have to contribute, in anyways we choose, in the mission to bring our fellow brothers and sisters from the feeling of, being abandoned, and show them the light at the end of the tunnel.