TRIBAL INSTINCT
MITTAL PATEL 38 FOUNDER, VICHARTA SAMUDAY SAMARTHAN MANCH, GUJARAT
She could very well have crafted a career in advertising or the electronic media after completing a course in mass communication. But Mittal Patel chose to tread a path less travelled. Taking up social work, she launched the Vicharta Samuday Samarthan Manch (VSSM) in 2010 and worked tirelessly to win Gujarat’s nomadic and denotified tribes rights as Indian citizens and allow them to access welfare schemes.
Owing to their drifting existence and the stigma of being a ‘criminal’ tribe, these 40odd tribes had for decades faced the apathy of governments and society, being denied voting rights and government sops, such as housing and subsidised food. With help from VSSM, more than 100,000 people from these tribes have acquired the right to vote and over 12,000 families have acquired ration cards. The government has also given some 1,500 families residential plots.
Patel’s first brush with these tribes was at the start of her career in the media and with an NGO. She was particularly moved by the plight of the 17,000-strong Dafer tribe of Kutchi origin. The community used to survive on hunting and forest produce though they were widely regarded as a ‘criminal’ tribe by surrounding communities. Mittal’s efforts in fighting for the community’s right to be recognised as citizens entitled to political representation and welfare benefits has brought them increasing dignity.
“Mittal has secured loans for 100 Dafer families. Our youth, who were involved in crime, have taken up jobs as security guards in villages,” says Dina Babu, a Dafer tribal from Mehsana district.
Patel made a similar difference to the lives of the Saraniyas, a nomadic tribe in northern Gujarat marked by a history of sexual exploitation by other communities and the attendant stigmas of this reputation.
Mittal’s dream is to set up a big hostel with vocational training for the children of these tribes and a museum that showcases the colourful nomadic culture of these people. “The faster we do it the better for the society as the original culture of these tribes is fast vanishing,” she says.
“Mittal has set an example in social work by taking up the cause of tribes. It will inspire a new generation of social workers” Harinesh Pandya, Secretary, Janpath Network, an apex body of voluntary outfits in Gujarat