The Hindu Business Line : A gutsy crusader

For Ujjwala Subedar, the project co-ordinator of Datamation Foundation, no area is taboo for mobilising girls who can be trained and empowered to earn a decent livelihood. She recalls with a giggle the time she visited the red-light district of Kanpur "where sex workers are often caught. A few of us went to one such area — called Bhori-Bhori, near Kalyanpur — to explore the possibility of starting a school for the children of these workers, or offer them computer training. We talked to a lot of people but they showed no interest."

But one perplexing discovery she made was that hardly any teenage girls were seen in the place. "Then I was told that you won't find many young girls here as many girls from Kanpur have gone to the dance bars in Mumbai... now that these have closed, I don't know if they have returned."

She found women mostly in their 30s and 40s, and even from this age group, the sex workers go to Delhi and Jaipur where there is more money. "Interestingly, in this area, people don't want sons, they want daughters, because by the time they turn 16, they can be sent to the flesh trade in Mumbai. I found that the girls, and not the boys, were sent to high school as the girls had to be `smart' for the Mumbai market." While most boys stop at Class V, the girls go to upper classes. "I found it to be the cleanest area in Kanpur; the houses looked like upper middle class homes!"

Ujjwala recalls how some of the senior students at the centre chided her, saying: "Ma'am `aap kaha ja rahi ho... saarey paap waha par hotey hei'. Why are you going there? At least remove your chain and bangles."

But she is determined to return there to scout for some recruits, and her next project is to start a centre in Premnagar, a predominantly Harijan area.

"They say `aisa koi galat kaam nahi hei jo yaha nahi hota ho' (there is no crime which is not committed here), even doors and windows are stolen! If you start a centre, you'll have to close it by 6 p.m, because nobody will come after that. But I'm sure we can do it," says the gutsy woman.

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