- Salman Ravi
- BBC reporter
image source, Gayatri caste
Kunta Maskole lives in a remote village of Kalwa block in Kantwa district of Madhya Pradesh. A large number of tribals live in the forest areas of Galva.
The name of Maskole’s village is Mamato. When tribal community elders were asked about their names, they said that the region has a tradition of giving similar names.
It’s not just a name. This is just one example of the struggles other tribal women like Maskole and their communities face in their daily lives.
These are remote areas of Madhya Pradesh. Migrating in search of work is the fate of the people of this region. There are many stories associated with this migration. They describe the abuses inflicted on them at the workplace.
People migrate from remote areas of Madhya Pradesh in search of work.
Tribal women They learn the trade of repairing bikes.
They are trained to repair two-wheelers with the help of local social workers.
This A resolution has been passed in the panchayat to provide a new place for women to do auto repair work.
Most of the people here do not have enough land to meet the needs of their families. That is why every adult in the family goes to work. They do it if they get a job in the surrounding districts. Otherwise they go to cities and other states.
‘I wanted to do a job that no one here is doing’
When Gunda Maskole was completely exhausted and unable to face the struggle of life, he left everything to his fate. His mood was not good either.
But there was an incident that made Maskole give up her despair and become a beacon of hope for tribal women like herself.
She had to face a society that thought cooking was a women’s job inside the home.
“When the lockdown came suddenly during Corona, tribals from remote areas of Galwa had gone to work in other cities. They were stuck there. Their struggle to return home was very painful,” social worker Seema Prakash told the BBC.
Gunda Maskole
It was at this time that tribal women started thinking of doing something at the local level to generate income.
“There is no wage work here even in the fields. The money earned after hard work is not enough for the family. In this area especially in forest and tribal areas the only mode of transport is motorcycle. But there is no facility to repair or patch a two-wheeler within a radius of fifty kilometers. So no one can do the work.” Everyone started thinking that they could start doing it,” said Seema Prakash.
Maskole says there are more than fifty tribal women like her who have been trained to repair two-wheelers through Seema Prakash’s organization.
After learning this job, most of these women have opened two-wheeler repair shops in their areas, Maskole said.
We met Mandu Kasir in his village Kalam Kurd. There he runs his own small garage. Initially, the locals would intercept her family on the road and ask, ‘Why have you made your maid do this?’
A full day’s wage work earns two hundred rupees. But even that is not available everyday, says Mandoo, who gets work only on some days. “Then I learned two-wheeler repair work. I also learned work from him at Babu Bhai’s garage in Kalwa town. When I came back to the village and started doing this work myself, I started getting money. It made me happy. Now I earn Rs 400-600 a day. Now I shop what I like. can be bought from,” he says.
Gayathri, a resident of Chawli Kheda village, says that now no one from her community will migrate for work.
People who used to tease people now come to repair motorcycles.
“People around me made fun of my father when my sister went to learn two-wheeler repair work,” Gayatri Caste’s sister Savitri told the BBC.
“My father would get upset. She is learning men’s work and my mother would say that they are making fun of her. But I supported Gayatri. I told her at home that after learning the job, when Gayatri starts working in the village, we will start getting money. Why should we worry about others. They will not come to help us. ,” remarked Savitri.
When these women do male-dominated work, it creates a stir in the society. Yet these women continued to learn the trade.
Shivani Uike lives in Mehlu village in the same remote area. He says that when he opened the garage in his shack, the youth there made fun of him.
“But when their motorcycles are repaired, they start coming to me for repairs. There is no petrol pump and no repair shop even far from the village. So the youth of our village tell me to teach us this job too,” he said.
People are amazed by the way he works. Some would say that these women should not be injured while working.
Now the confidence of these women has increased. Because of this they are very handy with repair tools.
Gayatri caste
The region has a long history of displacement and exploitation. The tribal women here don’t want to think about it. The art they have learned in the past few months has brought smiles back to their faces. This is a huge success for the organization associated with these women.
But Mandu Kasir’s family members agree that their daughter has stopped on her own. But another challenge is going to come before them in the coming days. That is Mandu Kasir’s marriage.
“I will continue to do my job. If I want to get married, then I will tell the guy in advance not to,” says Mandu.
Seema Prakash
The local Panchayat has also recognized the hard work of these women from remote areas of Kalwa. The panchayat has now unanimously passed a resolution that these women should choose the place for opening a new garage.
“Nobody would have imagined that these girls would learn so quickly. Now they are learning and standing on their own feet. We are also supporting them in their work,” said Shubham Tiwari, vice-president of Kalwa panchayat.
The path shown by tribal women living in remote rural areas of Kandwa district to their community has opened everyone’s eyes. It seems that there will be no need for anyone to go to other states in search of work.
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