Krishna Kumar (name changed) from village Wadia in north Gujarat is on cloud nine. He recently passed Class X, becoming the first student from the village, where most girls are raised to earn a living selling sex and boys to be their pimps, to do so.

That he scored a modest 62% is no deterrant for the boy who wants to be an IAS officer and change the ‘plight of the village’. Krishna had to go to Ahmedabad to study as his village has schools only up to class 8. When children from Wadia go out to study, they make it a point to not reveal their village name. “They look down upon us, if they come to know that we belong to Wadia,” a boy said.

Wadia, inhabited by 700 to 800 clusters of Saraniya community, in Banaskantha district, is about 240 kilometres from Ahmedabad. Historically, unmarried women of this village supported themselves through prostitution, with the men of the village working as pimps.

A profession that a few women opted for during times of deprivation gradually became a norm in this village with each household forcing their daughters into it. But, the girls of this village want to lead a normal life now, they want to come out of ‘this hell’ and receive education. “I want to study and become a doctor, so that I can help this village,” says a 15-year-old.  

But, times are slowly changing and Krishna is a symbol of that change. Playing a key role in this change is Mittal Patel of Ahmedabad.

In 2005, Patel chanced upon an article about the dismal state of the village. This got her thinking and she decided to do something for the village. “After reading that article, I thought I too am a daughter. I must do something for these girls. I resolved to do something for Wadia and my journey started then and there.”

When Mittal went to the village for the first time, everyone looked at her suspiciously but she saw a ray of hope in some people. She started work on what was an uphill task, but she did not give up despite a few physical attacks on her.

In 2010, Mittal floated an organisation Vicharta Samuday Samarthan Manch (VSSM) and has not looked back since. The organisation provided land and cattle to villagers, rejuvenated ponds and lakes to revive farming and wean them away from flesh trade.

The high point for her was in 2012 when she got many girls from the village married off.  According to the VSSM website, close to 50% families in the village have stopped pushing their daughters into sex trade. “More than 40% families have moved away from this trade and if proper avenues of employment are provided, the remaining 60% will also shun this trade,” a villager Ramesh Bhai told Opoyi.

Summing up the past 10 years, the VSSM website says, “the journey has been tremendously daunting and emotionally overwhelming.” But, hope flows and villagers, more so girls, are looking forward to a better future.