Seventy-six-year-old Fulpati is tired, but content. She spends her days farming, and when there is little or no work on her farm, she sells fruits in the nearby markets.
She has spent all her life in Deura village in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur district and has seen boys grow into men before her eyes. Lately though, she feels the children, men and women in her village are better off. We ask her why. It’s all because of the Green Gang, she says.
The Green Gang (they wear green sarees), set up by the Hope Welfare Trust, consists of 20 women who are working to end gambling, domestic violence and alcohol addiction across the villages of Khushiyari, Deura, Ramsipur, Bhadrasi and Jagad Devpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Why these villages? Because before the Green Gang came along, several villagers in these areas were battling alcoholism and a gambling addiction, as well as becoming violent.
After the green group was set up, everyone is concentrating on their work. Children are studying now. Men don’t get drunk as much. The violence that ensues after that has also stopped.Fulpati, Resident, Deura Village
The Hope Welfare Trust started the Green Gang initiative after an old woman told the secretary, Devyanshu, about the rampant gambling and alcoholism in the area. “While roads and electricity are important, I want you to first end these problems in my village (Khushiyari),” she told him.
The Hope Welfare Trust comprises around 100 students, primarily from Benaras Hindu University, (BHU) who spend their own pocket money to travel to far-off villages and educate women. They teach the women to write their names, give them self-defence classes, and teach them how to file an FIR or call the police in cases of emergency.
Chandrashekhar, from Deura village, is a first-year student in a local college. A lot has changed since the Green Gang began their work, says the 21-year-old.
“The women who are in the green gang keep roaming around the village daily. This causes some fear among the children,” he says.
They’ve started staying away from nasha, patti, jua, sharaab (drugs, playing cards, gambling, alcohol) and are going to school now.
“They spend their time playing cricket sometimes. They also give us information from time to time too,” he says.
The village headman, Sambunath, says things have definitely changed. “After the green group was made in our village, people have stopped gambling much. There is no theft in the village. Things have gotten better,” says the 60-year-old.
Circle Officer of Dasashwamadh Ghat, Sneha Tiwari, is very pleased with the initiative. “I have to say their desire to do good has paid off. They’re successfully moving ahead,” Tiwari says.
When these women walk out together in green sarees, the symbolism is strong. Instances of alcoholism and gambling have dropped. Men feel embarrassed for certain.
“The students have given them basic training and created awareness of their rights. Now women are just more confident,” Tiwari says.
Ravi Mishra, founder of the Hope Welfare Trust, says several women from nearby villages have approached the trust members, asking them to start a Green Gang in their respective villages.
“Just recently we got calls from women in Darekhu from Benaras district in Uttar Pradesh,” says Mishra, adding:
The main aim of Green Group is to stand against domestic violence in a non-violent way. While lack of money comes in the way at times, our zeal isn’t lost.
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