Only new jobs can reform woman bootleggers: Study

AHMEDABAD: For Sangeeta Indrekar, 45, a resident of Free Colony, Chharanagar, it was a new experience when three years ago she was taken to Shahibaug by the police. For a change, she had not been arrested for her bootlegging activities but to be taught meenakari and stitching for a more honourable living.
After three years, she is one of the senior-most ‘reformed’ bootlegger-turned-artisan at Sakhi Sahay project run at Kubernagar police chowky.In a documentary made on the project, her son admits that earlier he used to hide what his mother did but now he proudly talks about her achievements.
The impact assessment report on the Sakhi Sahay project is full of examples that document the journey of 66 women from bootlegging to a reformed life. The report titled, ‘Reform and Rehabilitation of Bootlegger Women of Chhara Community’, is written by Ritu Sharma and Neeta Khurana, faculty members of Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU).
Ritu Sharma, principal investigator of the project, said the reformed womens’s income is comparatively lower than what they earned from bootlegging.
“But we recorded the overall positive change in their outlook towards life by psychological tests. They feel proud of their creations and have improved self-esteem. Now it is important to sustain this effort,” Sharma said.
Arpita Vyas, founder of Wings to Fly that trained the women in collaboration with police, said that at the moment they have an order to make cloth bags for an NRG based in the US. The bags would be made at Kubernagar facility. “While a batch of girls have already trained to be beauticians, plans are afoot to venture into making of new products to keep the initiative afloat,” Vyas said.
Manjita Vanzara, ACP F Division, said the focus of the initiative was to find a probable solution to the problem.
“We first started working with a small group in collaboration with the NGO, Wings to Fly, to train them in artisanship. Later, more and more women joined not for themselves but to ensure that their kin could live without stigma,” she said.