This 87 Y.O. ‘Tauji’ Runs Over 30 Schools For Girls In Violence-Hit Bastar
- JWB Post
- July 14, 2016
In war-ravaged Bastar, where villagers are caught in the crossfire between the Naxalites and the security forces, an 87-year-old man is a lone ranger in his battle for a better world.
Known as tauji among locals, Dharampal Saini is a messiah for every girl in this remote area of Chattisgarh.
A freedom fighter and a Gandhian, Saini was a disciple of the celebrated social reformer Vinoba Bhave and since the 1950s, he worked in a large array of Gandhian institution for the cause of people. It was a newspaper report in the early 1960s that became the catalyst and brought Saini to Bastar.
He read in the report that a group of girls had hacked their harassers to death after the men tried to sexually assault them. This made Saini believe that it was of utmost importance to educate the girls living in this area to make them understand their rights and for their empowerment.
The result? Today, Mata Rukmini Devi Ashram schools produce the best athletes in the country and Saini is also at the helm of 30 government schools in this area.
“This issue worried me on how to inculcate the habit of studying and creating a learning atmosphere in school. For this I initiated Yoga and then a district forest officer suggested to me to channelise this energy for sports activity as these tribal girls have immense stamina and by the time they are four years old, they walk kilometres barefoot to forests to collect supplies. So I started teaching them sports and in the year 1985, a 14-year-old girl Mangal Mode won the first national medals for us in discus throw and kabaddi,” said Saini.
But this is a sharp contrast to the time when Saini arrived Bastar for the first time. He was given only a 5 rupee note by the administration for building the school and also had to face hostility from the villagers who were against educating girls.
Saini used to personally visit every family in the district to convince them so that they would send their daughters to the school. After a month of trying, he finally managed to convince four families.
No doubt that it took him almost 50 years but today Saini is the flag bearer of development in these violent hit areas. He even undermined the threats of the Naxals who didn’t want him to build the schools. But perhaps the most important aspect of the schools that Saini runs is their emphasis on physical education.
The girls from these schools have won many medals and accolades in national level tournaments for their performances in sporting tourneys.
The odds were always against him but this crusader proved that he is not one to accept defeat. Way to go tauji!
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