Tulsipur, June 7: With support from society materialising, Hira Nepali, 37, of Tulsipur Municipality ward No 6 is pressing forward enthusiastically with her movement against the prostitution prevalent among Badi women in Dang district.
Mrs. Nepali, herself from the Badi community, has been working actively since 27 years against prostitution which is an ancestral tradition among Badi women.
She is one of the active members of the Tole development committee which was registered in 2056 B.S. with a view to carrying out various programmes designed to discourage prostitution engaged in by Badi women at different places in Dang district.
The committee is maintaining surveillence against disturbances caused by people under the influence of alcohol, gamblers and others involved in prostitution in areas such as Ganeshchowk, Vankatta, Madannagar, Rajapur and Motipur in Tulsipur Municipality, ward No 6 and parts of ward No 4, secretary of the committee Narayan Prasad Sharma Gaire told RSS.
She launched a movement against the social malpractice upon a call from the then chief district officer. A queue of vehicles in such areas was a common sight in those days.
I was then alone in my efforts and nobody dare to support me, she recalls.
I had to work for some time on a daily wage of Rs. 11 after my husband abandoned me, she further said.
Her elder daughter Nirmala completed her matriculation sent up test while her son is in grade 7. She has had two grand children from her younger daughter.
She is currently supporting her family with a small grocery with vegetables.
Replying to a query, she says work being carried out by the committee is definitely commendable. An arrangement has to be made for alternative livelihood for such women.
Awareness against prostitution has to be generated among Badi women, she says.
They can be prevented from resorting to such a calling here, but they can resume it after shifting to another location, 22-year-old Nirmala said.
In a bid to end the social malpractice, programmes for child education, informal education and income generation to be launched side by side are under contemplation, secretary Gaire disclosed.
However, not a single adult from the Badi community attends the adult literacy classes though people from other communities seem to do so, he said.
Though some non-governmental organisations claim to be working for the good of the Badi community, such work has not yet taken place in the district, chairman of the downtrodden non-governmental organisations coordination committee Nirmal Nepali laments.
He disclosed that some women who do not belong to the Badi community are engaged in prostitution pretending that they are Badi.
I also belong to the Badi community. It would have been better if such a movement had started in the past. Any social institution can take initiative to end the malpractice, member of the unit committee under the tole development committee Himu Nepali says.
Such development committees are being set up at Ghorahi of Dang district as well as at another locality in the district under the influence of work being done by the committee, chairman of the committee Bhim Bahadur Chaulagain said.
Indira Sharma, who is associated with backward society education (base), is of the opinion that the development committeehas in fact done good job. has in fact done a good job.