Women Trafficking Menace
Two years back, I went home
for Christmas (my village in Sundargarh Dist of Orissa). With some of my
friends we went to the river side for a walk. On a distance of 200 meters, I
could see an old lady coming towards us. Head covered with Saree Pallu, she was
weeping. She was unable to stand straight. After getting a wave of DANDIYA
& DARU-smell, I understand that she was in JANAM PARAB spirit.
After greeting her JOHAR, I
didn’t care much to talk to her. After moving around us for some time she pulled
out an envelop from her bag and gave me saying, “mor
buchu ke herae delon beti……and continued yelling for some time. (Her daughter was lost in
Delhi who went to work as domestic help).
I opened the envelop and
saw a photograph of her daughter Pramila along with a visiting card. Details of
the visiting card included: Mr ….. Singh, Hotel Singh Continental (3 & half
star), Karol Bagh, New Delhi-….ph no. email id & website. I could not
believe that she was a 18 year tribal young girl, infact she looked like
Panjabies. Fair complexion, long black hair, long earrings hanging from her
ears matching to her white and blue Patiala Salwar Kurti with high hill sandal
she posed for that photograph infront of India Gate. However, with her request the
employee/malik/sahab sent this protographs to her mother. Though the parcel/letter
was the first communication between Pramila and her parent since she left for
Delhi in 2000. The envelop contained no letter or any other materials as
Pramila was illiterate and could not write a single line for her parents.
As described by her parents
in my second meeting, Pramila used to live happily with her parents and younger
brother who lived in a small mud hut amidst thick forest dividing Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh
and Western Orissa. Colleting and selling firewood and other forest produce in
the villages and local market was the only source of income for the family. But
due to forest shrink and non-availability of forest produces, their livelihood
was badly affected. Parents did not know meet their daily need, until someone
told them about the lucrative (aaya) job available in Delhi.
In 2000, Pramila came to
Delhi at the age of 10 along with a young woman from her own village in search
of domestic help work. When they reached to Nizamuddin railway station, some
men (placement agents) were already waiting for her. She was taken to a
placement office at Punjabi Bagh. After two days, she was employed in a family
at Karol Bagh (who owns a 3 star hotel), where her job was to look after two
children (a new born baby, another 5 yrs old) at the salary of Rs 1000/-. For five years she never got any salary,
later she came to know that placement office had already taken the amount from
the employee. The woman who had brought her to city also never appeared to her.
Pramila was not knowing where and how to go back to her village and continued
working in the same family for 10 years.
Her poor and uneducated
parents could not do anything to locate her daughter and bring her back home
until they met me in the river side of my village on the Christmas Day. I directed
them to Delhi Domestic Workers Forum (run by Ranchi Ursuline sisters) rescued Pramila
after filling FIR at Karol Bagh Police station on 3rd Oct. 2011.
Though Pramila was rescued and
was sent back home with reimbursement of some thousand rupees for her 10 years service
to the family, she feels lost in her village. She doesn’t understand the language
(Sadri/Oriya) spoken by her parents and other village people, nor her parents
understand what she speaks (dilli style hindi). She cannot work in the field
nor can live in the small muddy house. She spent her childhood days in the city
growing up along with the children she was looking after. Thus, Pramila not
only became a victim of trafficking & child labour but she was deprived of
her parent’s love, childhood life, cherishing tribal culture and identity.
There are thousands of
Pramila in Delhi and other metro cities whose life story is not lesser pathetic
than hers. The issue of tribal women/girl trafficking has been addressed by
several NGOs, Church authorities and tribal community leaders from last two
decades specially in Chotanagpur tribal areas . . . but the situation proves no
better!!! Today also hundreds of young (even minors) boys and girls migrating towards
city for whatever may be the reason (full & factors) . . .
As educated youth and pillars
of our tribal society do we have any role to play to curb this menace? Can we
go a step ahead in protecting and guiding our bothers and sisters in whatever way
we can?
(Written by Alma Grace Barla, student at IIHR & IGNOU, voluntarily involved with Adivasi Vikas Sanstha, Delhi, working against human trafficking)
