A job, home, and new life: Rajasthan tribe rewrites its story

Earlier this year, Manoj Kumar, hailing from the denotified Kanjar tribe, became the first person from his community in Rajasthan's Jhalawar to get selected for a government job as a Home Guard. “I had applied earlier as well but the call to join never came.

So, this time around, I wasn’t enthusiastic as I had no support. Plus, people don’t generally give jobs to those from our community…” the 26-year-old told The Indian Express. “But when the police here came to know about my dream, they motivated me to try again.

This time, I was selected,” Kumar said. Recently, two of Kumar's brothers also landed jobs at the private Rajasthan Textile Mills (RTM). Behind their success lies a nearly year-long campaign, which brought Jhalawar’s district administration; its police; the many departments, including health, social justice, Information Technology, zila parishad etc.; as well as social activists, private firms and schools together to lift Kumar’s tribe out of the margins of the society.

Such has been the condition of the Kanjars that their settlements are known as up-basti, or sub-settlement. Almost a year ago, Assistant Sub Inspector Madan Lal and Head Constable Babulal were tasked by Jhalawar Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar with leading a special team to conduct a survey of these sub-settlements.

The SP, who was posted in Jhalawar in July last year, had noticed a pattern: For decades, a number of crime cases such as theft, burglary, robbery, and dacoity had been registered against the people living in these camps.

In Jhalawar alone, approximately 150 to 200 criminal cases were registered annually against people living in these settlements. “But it is not enough to understand this situation only through crime statistics… I never saw anyone from the community in a sprawling house or a big car.

Even those who were involved in crime couldn't amass wealth. Their settlements had kutcha homes. The crimes they were committing were out of pet ki majboori (the compulsion of hunger),” the SP said. He said that long-term absence from education, combined with poverty, limited employment opportunities, and the criminal stereotype associated with the entire community had created a vicious socio-economic circle.

“On one hand, the stereotyping limited respectable employment opportunities, on the other, lack of education and resources led some in the new generation into taking to the same path,” Kumar said. A door-to-door survey by ASI Lal and others revealed around 4,100 persons from the Kanjar community in Jhalawar concentrated in two locations in the district: Jhalrapatan and Gangdhar, with a difference of about 130 kms between them.

The exercise was not without challenges. “Many of them had no documents at all; no Aadhaar, no voter ID, no ration card… no one cared for them,” an official associated with the campaign said. “Even among those who had voter cards, many were not interested in voting.

Reason: A number of them had a standing warrant and the sight of police personnel at polling booths would send them scampering away,” the official added. Over the past year, different arms of the government stepped in, with the police leading the campaign called ‘Naya Savera’ (new dawn).

In one of the meetings, the people of the community were motivated to renounce crime. Many took an oath in front of the SP himself. So far, around 2,000 people have taken such oaths. Next, the district administration brought the departments together to create their Aadhaar, Voter ID and other documents.

Additionally, they were taught about the banking system. So far, about 154 persons have been connected to the banking system. Then came free health camps organised in coordination with Sajid Khan, Chief Medical and Health Officer, Jhalawar, and private medical institutions to raise awareness about sanitation, treatment of diseases, malnutrition, and family planning.