Nexus of Good: Radiance of courage

The Himmat initiative in Chhattisgarh was deservedly awarded the Nexus of Good Annual Award, 2023, for putting in place a successful model for empowering tribal women. This model has the potential to be scaled through a public-private partnership.

Chhattisgarh, being a tribal-dominated state (with 30 per cent of the population being tribal), faces unique challenges compared to the rest of the country. The percentage of tribal population is about 55 per cent in Surguja range, and the female literacy rate, standing at around 42 per cent, poses unique challenges for the police, especially concerning crimes against women.

The Himmat initiative was conceptualised in Surajpur district and later implemented in Surguja district, with credit for this initiative going to Bhavna Gupta, who served as Superintendent of Police in both districts. The objective was to empower, strengthen, and build the self-confidence of tribal women through both physical and mental training to combat the increasing challenge of crimes against these remote tribal women.

Himmat is a women's safety initiative that takes a holistic approach to address issues of gender violence and discrimination. Under the programme, women, especially those from tribal areas and those who are victims of crime, underwent extensive four-week residential training courses. This training, conducted by experts in self-defence, legal awareness by police and judicial officers, aimed to make them aware of their rights, motivate them through career counselling programmes, and link them to beneficiary programmes from various other departments.

The initiative was well-received, with approximately 1,000 tribal girls trained in Surajpur. The success of the initiative was replicated in Surguja District, where about 1,500 students were trained in six different tribal areas. The programme became largely demand-driven, with different schools and principals from Tribal chatravas approaching for the Himmat Programme in their organisations.

Later, the programme was linked to the State Flagship scheme of "Hamar Beti Hamar Maan," a programme designed to create awareness for women's rights and establish a fearless atmosphere for women, focusing on Parishram, Paramarsh, and Parakram.

The initiative helped in positively reducing school dropouts, kidnapping, elopement, and human trafficking cases. It created ground-level police mitans to report incidents of crime against women early on, and information regarding impending child marriages also started pouring in. In 2021 (before Himmat), the total number of FIRs registered concerning offenses against women in Surguja was 311. In 2022 (after implementing Himmat), it reduced to 273, with a decrease in IPC 363 (kidnapping/elopement) cases. Similarly, the number of Abhivyakti users, the Women Safety Application, registrations increased from two digits to 4,318 in a short period of 6 months.

It further had a very positive gender sensitisation impact on involved police personnel across the ranks who participated in conducting these events and imparting legal awareness and physical training sessions. The opportunity for close and intense interaction with tribal adolescent girls and victims of crime exposed the officers to a very different world view, greatly enhancing empathy and creating a friendly and healthy relationship.

A group of advanced trained Himmat girls excelled in sports, receiving state awards in competitive sports such as Rope Malkhamb, qualifying at the national level, and performing at various district-level events. The girls came to be popularly known as "Himmat Girls”, symbolising courage. The outperformers were felicitated during Rajyotsava, a prestigious ceremony marking the raising day of the state, where indigenous talent is recognised and honoured.

These small recognitions, opportunities, and acts of appreciation made the girls emerge as local role models and inspiration for their communities. Encouraged by the achievements of their wards, many parents decided to invest in the higher education of their daughters instead of marrying them at a young age.

Under the project, a group of expert self-defence trainers was chosen through a competitive process to impart self-defence training. The teams included a mix of police personnel (trained in unarmed combat), experts, and senior students who had earlier attained a certain degree of excellence. Preference was given to local people for a participative approach.

Training was imparted in a holistic fashion — keeping in view the sensitivities of tribal culture and relevance. For example, most target areas are forested, and women face unease while commuting alone or attending nature's calls, when most adverse incidents would happen. So, they were taught how to use their dupattas, school bags, purses, etc., to remove themselves from adverse situations and seek immediate police help. Those having mobile phones were taught about the use of the women's safety application – Abhivyakti, having an SOS call facility.

The physical training was followed by academic training, where legal awareness on recent laws such as POSCO, the Child Marriage Act, Dowry Prohibition Act, Domestic Violence, changes in rape laws, and procedures on how to approach the authorities were imparted. A team of women police personnel, who were themselves tribal, could communicate in local languages, and were role models, were utilised. This had a positive impact on reducing elopement cases and improved reporting on incidents of child marriage.

The trained women were extended linkages to avenues for self-employment, skill training, and competitive sports through a partnership with the District administration - WCD, Skill Training and Education department. A programme for online English education and job interview preparedness was started in partnership with TCS. Many others were enrolled in a programme for competitive exam preparation organised by the District administration.

To successfully implement the initiative, a special wing of community policing was created in the SP office to design and monitor the programme. This special wing, along with police mitaans, helped in planning, mobilising resources, recruiting trainers, designing the course, constantly interacting with the students, taking their feedback, evaluating the course, etc.

Coordination and collaboration were also done with the district administration, Women and Child Department, Social Welfare Department, etc., for trainers, funds, and other resources. Funding for the programme was a major challenge, as it entailed training expenses, logistics, provision of training equipment, remuneration to trainers, and the conduct of opening and closing ceremonies and prize distribution. The funds for the programme were arranged collaboratively through public and private sources. Help has been taken from Nirbhaya and DMF previously and later on through CSR funds as well. CSR funds from PSUs and private entities engaged in mining operations in the area were sourced through proper paperwork and liaising, and they were convinced to invest in the welfare of tribal women in the areas of their operation. Some funds were also crowdsourced from inhabitants who were willing to participate. Maintaining proper paperwork, forming a dedicated team of officials at the SP Office to maintain accounts, and ensuring transparency were the keys to ensuring the financial integrity of the initiative.

Views expressed are personal