RAMBAGAN IN SEARCH OF A NEW IDENTITY

Introduction
Lilavati, born to a sex-worker mother, was only nine years old when CINI ASHA stepped in Rambagan, a well-known red-light area of Kolkata, 22 years ago. Truly speaking, CINI ASHA, the urban unit of CINI, was still not formed by then and it was a programme directly under the control of the Head Quarter of CINI. Lilavati was one of the first-batch of children enrolled under the intervention of CINI. It was the initiative of some local people who realised that a dark and gloomy future is waiting for the children of the area if they are not kept away from their mothers business zone. The monks of Ramakrishna Mission, with generous government help, were running several ICDS centres in the locality which not only provided food to these children, but took care of their morning hours as well. But after the ICDS centres were closed at 11 O clock in the morning they had to go back home when their mothers were just preparing for their work. They were not going to school and had nothing to do except roaming on the streets or waiting aimlessly in front of the closed rooms of their own house. Some local leaders of Rambagan approached CINI with great urgency - please do something for our children. CINI stepped in, did a house-to-house to survey, discussed with the mothers, earned their trust and ultimately convinced them to send their children to school. It was a long process. But eventually, the mothers felt the necessity and importance of education in the life of their children. Admitting the children of Rambagan to schools was a not an easy task. Most of them did not have a fathers name to fill up in the application form. CINI argued with the school authorities that they should be admitted with their mothers identity. They agreed. School was a whole new world for these children. They found plenty of opportunities for fun and play and making new friends. But they also noticedthat the other children were smarter than them. Their friends were regular in doing home tasks, could promptly answer questions asked by the teachers and did well in examinations, while they were shying away from everything

related to study. The children of Rambagan, though in schools, had a great disadvantage. They had no place to study at home. They had only one room in their house and that too was being used for their mothersprofession throughout the day till late evening. Secondly, there was nobody to assist them in study. Their mothers did not have time to look after their children except doing some cooking for them. And last but not the least, they did not have the required literacy level to assist them in their study. After realising the problem, CINI set up a coaching centre for the children in a dilapidated club room in Rambagan and with a handful of students. Lilavati was one of them. It was not easy to get teachers for the coaching centre. Anybody entering Rambagan would be perceived as a sex-worker or a client (depending on their gender) in the public eye. But some brave people dared to break the myth. With great sincerity they started teaching these children in order to make them at par with other children in schools. Many of these children were brilliant and eager to learn. Promotion from one class to the next higher one was never a big concern for the teachers. Lilavati read up to 10th standard. She passed the first public examination after the 10thclass. She did not emulate her mothers path. She had been married to a good family who had no association with the sex trade. Her present address is no longer Rambagan. She lives a little far away from her mothers house. She has two daughters; both of them are studentsof a public school. But Lilavati has so much of faith on the teachers she was taught by, she send both of her daughters to them every evening and yes, in Rambagan. Lilavati volunteers herself to pick-up unattended children and send them to CINI. Lilavati does not stay in Rambagan now, but there she has an ancestral house inherited from her mother. What will she do with the vacant house ? She rents the rooms of her ancestral house to sex workers who come from outside. It gives her a good income. Rents are fixed on hourly basis. Lilavati is only one of the many success stories one will hear while interacting with the residents of Rambagan. In fact every single child who had passed through CINIs intervention is a success. A local influential leader put it in this way not a single case is there in the last 20 years where a daughter of a sex worker has taken up the profession of

her mother. This is something CINI should be proud of. However, a close scrutiny of the case of Lilavati points towards the changing perspective of the issues. CINI had done a lot. But a lot more is still to be done.

Purpose and Methodology

The following pages of this document attempts to assess the impact of the intervention of CINI in last 20 years and capture the current issues related to child protection that have bearing upon the children of Rambagan. The assessment is based on a series of interactions (technically speaking, FGDs, KIIs and IDIs) with different stakeholders viz. children, their mothers (including sex workers), adolescents groups, teachers of the coaching centres, ICDS workers and local influentials. The study did not have any quantitative component, but used various statistics regarding Rambagan already available with CINI. One of the outputs of the exercise is a schematic map of Rambagan area, drawn in order to get a visual impression of the current scenario of Rambagan the sex trade, status of children and their association with the current intervention of CINI. The map was drawn by the teachers of the coaching centres, who are most familiar with the lanes and by-lanes of Rambagan, under the guidance of the research organisation. Since, the primary mode of the study was qualitative; every single FGD was documented by a rapporteur. Contents of the documents were verified and confirmed by those present in the FGDs on behalf of CINI and the research organisation. Analysis of the documents was done in parallel during the study period firstly, to triangulate the findings of one FGD from the subsequent ones and secondly, to find the cues to be used as lead questions during FGDs with other stakeholders. Concurrent analysis of all the documents and statistical figures was done at the end of the study, which forms the basis of this report.

Since health is not yet a part of the current intervention, it was decided to look into the health needs of the children of Rambagan. It was felt that despite existence of ICDS centres within the area, mothers might not have adequate knowledge (as well as time) to follow the best practices to keep their children in good health. Three health camps were organised in Rambagan as a part of this study in order to take weight of the children and enquire about their mothers general health seeking behaviour (for their children). Out of 113 children participated in the camp, 69 belonged to the 0-5 years age-group. Weights of these 69 children were analysed using Z-score technique based on the standard anthropometric table for weight.

Rambagan : 20 years before

If anybody was asked to name a few most notorious places of Kolkata 20 years ago, Rambagan would have ranked within top five. Some local people, who were growing adolescents at that time, have vivid memories of those days. There, day used to start late. One could find drunkards lying on the streets (they were thrown out of the brothels after the time was over), women squabbling with each other for water or flinging slangs, customers searching for drug peddlers. Streets were full of empty food packets and wine bottles. The scenario changed with the maturity of the day. Women adorned with appealing dresses started waiting for the customers. Streets went under the control of pimps and streams of known and unknown outsiders. It was the beginning of the business hours. But there were children. They were unwanted children. They were the by-products of unsafe sex. Smaller children were kept under the influence of alcohol and were made to sleep under the cot so that they did not disturb their mothers sexual engagement with a customer on the cot above. Children were the mute spectators of everything. But they were growing as per the natural law. Those, who were a little older, were used to get engaged in bringing food and wine for the customers or to reach a customer to a desired sex worker. Girls were under the preparation of becoming sex workers. They were booked by greedy customers even before they attain puberty. Boys were learning skills to become pimps or anti-socials.

Area of Intervention
Rambagan, located near the junction of Beadon Street and CR Avenue in ward-26 of Kolkata Municipal Corporation was never entirely inhabited by the sex workers. There are also slums and squatter colonies and houses of small traders who do not have any association with sex trade. There are families who are financially rich and also rich in tradition and culture. But in spite of everything, identity of Rambagan is a red light area to the outside world, probably because of its close proximity to Sonagachi, one of the biggest red-light areas of Asia. Many people put the two places in the same bracket as Sonagachi-Rambagan.

Sex trade in Rambagan is confined to only five zones viz. Sethbagan, Maniktala Lane, Ramesh Dutta Street, Jogen Dutta Lane and Dayal Mitra Lane. According to a recent household listing done by CINI, there are 745 houses in these five areas accommodating 370 sex workers (including

past and present ones). Out of 370 women, 240 (65%) are still in profession. The rest have given up due to old age. Of 745 houses 45 are brothels, housing multiple sex workers. Concentrations of sex workers are highest in Sethbagan, Dayal Mitra Lane and Jogen Dutta Lane. Out of 45 brothels in five locations, 19 are located in Sethbagan alone. Jogen Dutta Lane, though small in terms of area, has 55 sex workers in 35 houses. 33 of them are currently active. Number of sex workers is the least in Maniktala lane. Apart from five areas mentioned above, there is another place, known as Kachuri Goli, which too is a part of Rambagan, but primarily a slum area. Kachuri Goli does not house any sex workers.

Intervention
CINI started its intervention in Rambagan in 1992 in a modest way by counselling the mothers to send their children to schools and organising tutorial support for the school-going children. CINI strongly believes in the principle that education is among the first few things to be provided to a child apart from health and nutrition. Children enlightened by education are less prone to abuse, exploitation and violence. However, only education was not enough and other interventions soon followed. Many children were in the state of trauma and they required intense counselling. Side by side with tutorial support, children were taught other skills like singing, dancing etc. in order to reduce the monotony of formal education. Adolescent girls and boys who were on the verge of getting engaged in sexual activities either by compulsion or by choice required awareness about the fall-outs of such events. With increasing number of issues, the intervention grew manifold. Stated objectives of the intervention were as follows 1. To build capacity of the children living in and around the red light area of Rambagan by providing education, vocational, health and counselling inputs 2. To ensure that children in red light areas are protected from abuse and exploitation by providing a safe space inside the community 3. To support a small group of young people who are in high school and college with additional education classes and with training on child protection issues so that they are able to recognise and report abuse and will act as a peer resource group of the community who will create awareness on various social issues and laws among the community

4. To sensitize the community volunteers and other stake holders about various child right related issues and to motivate them to adopt the CWFC (child and woman friendly community) approach inside the community With many different types of activities and strong networking with the local schools and ICDS centres, CINI was able to minimise the exposure of these children to their mothers profession to the least. Soon after waking up in the morning children go to the ICDS centres. After the ICDS centres are closed they go home, take lunch and rush to schools. After coming back from schools and a brief afternoon play, they come to the coaching centres of CINI. All coaching centres run by CINI in Rambagan area starts in the evening and continues till late evening. Children are made to finish their home-tasks and preparation for exams in the coaching centres, under the guidance of qualified teachers. So they do not need to study at home. By the time they return home, their mothers are almost free and can take care of them. The first coaching centre was housed inside a local club. However as the children were promoted to higher classes, needs for higher order coaching classes also grew. But finding space for opening coaching centres was a real problem in Rambagan. CINI motivated the authority of a local corporation school to provide space for conducting evening coaching classes. Some generous residents of the area too stretched their helping hands and provided space for children in the evening. The centres are not impressive by look. Classes are sometimes held in the courtyards or corridors (veranda). But it is the generosity of the local residents, local clubs and the corporation school which helped CINI to accommodate over 400 children every evening. At present CINIhas five centres Sishughar, Ashaghar, Chayan, Nabodouday and Pather Sathi- in its intervention area of Rambagan. Sishughar is a creche where sex worker mothers send their children who are below five years old - in the evening. A total of 31 children 10 girls and 21 boys come to Sishughar almost regularly. A community volunteer looks after these children and get them engaged in various

10

games and play. Ashaghar is meant for the children studying in kindergarten up to class-II. Ashaghar now has 115 children of which 52 are girls and 63 boys. Children studying in class III to V come to another centre called Chayan. Currently 95 children are enrolled in Chayan. Of them 43 are girls and 52 are boys. Children studying in class VI to VIII go to Nabouday which has 87 children (37 girls and 50 boys) at present. Pather Sathi is for elder students reading in class IX to XII. 74 children, of which 13 are girls and 61 are boys, give regular attendance at Pather Sathi. In addition, CINI has a set up a text book library in the area which has a good collection of text books of higher classes. Those who cannot afford to buy books can borrow books from the library. The library is managed by a local volunteer.

Apart from these five coaching centres CINI has also created a peer support group, called Jagaran, comprising adolescent girls and boys. Members of Jagaran play some key roles in the community to facilitate the intervention of CINI. They keep in touch with their peers and organise various programmes on life skill education among them. They mobilise community support for the on-going intervention and keep close watch on the community. At present Jagaran has 30 boys and 9 girls as its members.

11

It has to be mentioned here that not all children presently enrolled under the intervention of CINI belonged to the sex workers. All children, living within the intervention area of Rambagan being at risk of abuse and exploitation, are covered by the intervention.

12

Impact
During the last few years, CINI has been doing annual census of children in Rambagan in order to identify new children to be brought under the fold of intervention. The latest census carried out in 2011 traced 950 children of which 532 (56%) are boys and 418 (44%) are girls. It was found that 78% of the boys and 80% of the girls (79% combined) are schoolgoing. The percentages of school-going children are quite high in the 615 years age-group. It was found that 99% of the boys and 97% of the girls in this age-group are going to school. 76% of the children below six years old too are going to some crche and/or ICDS centres. In terms of numbers this is a great achievement of CINI. 441 children (46%) out of 950 identified are directly associated with the current intervention of CINI. Rate of direct participation is much higher among the boys (52%) than girls (39%). Over the last 7-8 years CINI has been able to sustain a constant rate of participation of around 450 children in its different centres in Rambagan area.

13

A percentage of the children who do not participate in CINIs programmes come from relatively richer families and they are sent to some other institutions for coaching. Some sex workers who own brothels earn a lot of money. They spend Rs 200 per day for their children. Even you dont have the capacity to pay so much for your child. Do you ?This was a comment of an ICDS worker, who is posted there for long, to the researcher during a KII. However, this is not the general scenario, most of the families who send their children to the coaching centres of CINI are too poor to afford cost of education of their children. Sometimes we dont have the money to buy a copy or a pencil for our child. Then, only the CINIs didis (teachers and other field staff) come to our help, mothers said during an FGD.

PARTICIPATION RATES

This also shows that CINI has been able to penetrate deep in the community and mobilise support of the local people. Those who are in the position to compare the present state of Rambagan with what it was 20 years ago unanimously acknowledge the positive changes happened in Rambagan. Some old sex workers commented during an FGD, We were always scared of the goons. They even used to beat us for money. It was a den of anti-socials. Bombing was rampant. Now it is very peaceful. Part of this credit goes to the solidarity of the sex workers through Durbar Mahila Samanway Committee (DMSC) who has a presence in Rambagan. Drunkards still sleep on the streets. But they are fewer in number as compared to 20 years ago. Streets are not as clean as they

14

should be. Empty food packets, wine bottles and in addition, used condoms (which is an indication of high level of awareness about HIV/AIDS) still litter the street corners. But the municipal corporation send their people to clean the area twice a day. Some of the members of Jagaran adolescent group supervise the work. Stories, the researchers gathered during various interactions, are all positive stories indicating success of the intervention through 20 long years. Not a single child who has passed through the intervention of CINI has been spoilt in spite of ample opportunities of being so. A few of them are pursuing graduate and post-graduate education in universities which could not be dreamt of20 years ago. Some of the children, who are now grown up, have managed to get jobs in private concerns. Those who have started earning, earn through honest means. Some volunteer in the on-going intervention. Most importantly, not a single daughter of the sex worker has followed their mothers profession in the last two decades. This was unbelievable 20 years ago. Contrary to the norms of other societies a girl child is more desired than a boy to a sex worker. Birth of a girl child used to be celebrated there, as they were born to become sex workers and take care of their mothers at their old age.

15

Current Issues
One of the unique characteristics of Rambagan is the peaceful coexistence of sex workers families and others. They do not bear any hatred to each other and they live like good neighbours in adjacent houses. Their children are friends. In fact all religious and cultural events in the area are equally participated by the both type of families. This uniqueness brought us a special prize for our Durga Puja two years back, one local community member proudly said pointing towards the certification of the prestigious award hanging on the wall of the club. A young girl of the community, who is also a teacher in one of the coaching centres, described how everybody of her neighbourhood thronged their house to console them when her father died. There are two entrances to the community from the main road (CR Avenue). Clients of the sexworkers enter through one of them which is very crowded and not very clean. The main road is closer through this entrance. The other entrance is used by those residents who live on the other side of Rambagan, a little away from the sex trade concentrated zone. But many local residents of the area prefer the short-cut one in spite of knowing that the road is actually used by the clients and sex workers. Are you not afraid of people approaching you as a sex worker ?One middle-aged woman, who is a resident of Rambagan by marriage and who also volunteers herself in CINIs intervention said in response, Not at all. If anybody dares so, the local people will pounceupon him and thrash him out of the area. I feel much safer when I use this entrance. Crisis in the name of Rambagan In spite of this peaceful coexistence of sex-workers' and non-sexworkers families, the crisis lies in the name of Rambagan which is known as a red light area and hence, a notorious place to the outside world. Everybody living in that area, including children, adolescents and

16

adults, suffer from the crisis of identity. One of the members of Jagaran adolescent group remembered a swimming teacher not allowing him in his class when he gave his address as Rambagan. Another boy recalled the exclamation of his friends, Eh ! You live in Rambagan ! People of Rambagan have found an easy solution to this problem. They use the street address when they introduce themselves to others. Outsiders cannot associate Ramesh Dutta Street or Jogen Dutta Lane with Rambagan. But this shows that the children grow up with the complex of staying in a place which has a bad reputation in the eyes of others. This has an impact on their personality and confidence. Address problem becomes a more serious issue at the time of marriage of girls. Parents send their children to their relatives house and get their daughters married from there. Some hire temporary residence outside Rambagan for marriage of their daughters. Feeling of isolation Children of Rambagan suffer from a sense of isolation from their friends in school (and in other places outside Rambagan) as they are ashamed of bringing them to their house. Their friends too, living outside Rambagan, do not feel comfortable in coming to their houses where the next door neighbour is a sex worker. The children feel they cannot reciprocate the gestures of their friends who invite them to their houses during various occasions. Even adults feel this problem. When our relatives come, they do not stay with us for more than one or two days. They are always eager to go back from here, said one of the teachers in the coaching centre. Exposure to sex trade Children of Rambagan get used to watching sex workers on the streets, as neighbours or at homes from a very early age. During several FGDs with the children, it was clearly established that they have no appreciation for this profession and associated activities. Many children

17

feel, given the opportunity they would move to other places which has a good environment (where women are not engaged in sex trade). Some said police should take action against them. They were too young to understand the economics of the trade. FGDs with the sex workers reveal that they do have the similar concern and feel that children are exposed to many things which they should not be at a tender age. But they are helpless. Many of the local sex workers who were active 20 years ago have given up the profession by now. But the vacuum has been filled up by nonlocal sex workers. They come from outside, get engaged in the profession during day time and return home in the evening or late evening. The erstwhile sex workers or their heirs earn easy money by renting out the rooms to these flying sex workers. CINI estimates over 400 sex workers visit Rambagan area everyday. Though during conversation they say they confine themselves inside rooms, children confirm they are the witnesses of exhibitionism of these flying sex workers for soliciting customers. Most importantly, these flying sexworkers do not show any accountability to this area, as they come from outside. Sometimes they also attempt to lure the local boys. One child, studying in class-VIII, vouched he was once approached by one such sex worker. He also informed that they he had seen his friends watching xrated movies in mobile. It would be no wonder if the local adolescents boys started getting attracted to these sex-workers and get engaged in unsafe sex with them. Lack of attention to study among the adolescents, studying in upper classes, probably due to distraction of mind (such exposure might be a cause) is also confirmed by the teachers of secondary schools. As authenticated by the local residents there are hardly any adolescents or young people who are drug-addicts. But there are a number of drugpeddlers and hot-spots (where people go in order to take drugs) in Rambagan. A boy said, One such place is just beside my house, there is so much of smoke coming through my window in the night, sometimes I feel suffocated.

18

Sexual Abuse In a place like Rambagan cases of sexual abuse of girls were expected to be high. Though the situation has improved a lot in last 20 years, it has not been totally eliminated. However, such incidences are extremely rare nowadays (as compared to what was before). In case it happens, it is immediately intervened by the local people. A few cases of sexual abuse were recorded during the study. Members of Jagaran adolescent group remember an incidence of gang-rape in this area. A girl around nine years old was sexually compromised by one of her mothers clients while she was alone at home. In one occasion a private tutor and in another occasion a priest (by profession) tried to molest girls inside their house. A young sex worker alleged that she is used to hear lewd comments of the passers-by when she goes to market place. Sometime people attempt to touch her unnecessarily. Physical Abuse Children complained a lot about physical abuse by parents, especially by mothers. However, they are very much forgiving and realises that it was their fault when they are thrashed by parents. They are beaten by parents mostly for neglecting study. Mothers also confirm that they cannot help it, when they are troubled beyond their tolerance. Nature of abuses are usually not severe (limited to slaps, beating by hands), but in a few cases children were hit by heated kitchen-wares (spatula, tongs). Physical abuse by parents creates various reactions in childrens mind. Some stop talking to mothers, some complain to fathers. I feel like fleeing home, one boy commented. No significant difference was observed between the physical abuse of boys and girls. However, after a certain age mothers do not physically hurt their children. Verbal Abuse

19

The most common abuse prevalent in the area and which is utterly disliked by the children is verbal abuse. From waking up in the morning till we go to sleep in the night we hear only slangs, said the children during FGDs. Slangs are used by parents, neighbours, passers-by, peers and who not. Sometimes they are taught the slangs by their elders so that they learn to reciprocate. Mothers too confirm that they use dirty words to their children. We understand that this is not good. We are spoiling our own children. But we cannot help it. This has become part of our lingua franca, the mothers said. Many feel, if people of Rambagan can be made to speak without using slangs, this would improve the situation a lot. Missing Girls Though local people and volunteers of CINI in Rambagan vouch for the fact that the intervention has been able to stop succession of sex trade from mothers to their daughters, number of missing girls in the total set of children is an area of concern. The number of girls gradually decreases in coaching centres of higher classes. Neither are they traced in the community. Probably the mothers send their daughters out of Rambagan for marriage.

GILRS' ENROLLMENT INTHE CRECHE AND COACHING CNETRES (2012)

52 43 37

IDENTIFICATION
44%

56% Girls

Boys

20

ENROLLMENT
39% 61% Girls Boys

Early Marriage Mothers of the children, at least those who send their children to the coaching centres, do not apparently favour early marriage of their daughters. Rather they want them to study as far as possible and take up a job. It is encouraging to learn that some girls of the area, who are the daughters of sex workers, are presently pursuing their masters degree. But this is not a general scenario. What happens more often is that the girls marry local boys at an adolescent age following a brief romance. This creates a lot of problems in both the families. Families blame each other for inducing their children. Members of Jagaran remember in one such case police intervention was required. But they also see some positive effects of adolescent romance. According to them girls often influence boys to give up bad habits and take up a job instead of sitting idle. Limited Career Options When asked about what they want to be in life, there were only three different answers from a group of 15 boys. They want to be footballer or a doctor or a police. (Very surprisingly one boy mentioned he wanted to be a good human being !). The choice of girls had a larger variation. Most of them want to become teachers (like who teach them). Some of them have a preference for doctors and nurses. One girl wants to be a pilot. Influenced by television, some would love to participate in reality shows. It is understood that the choice of profession does not go beyond what

21

they see around them or on the screen of television. FGDs with the adolescent groups reveal that they really do not see many career options based on the education they receive. Those who are working, are engaged in low-skilled (e.g., driving) or unskilled job. All boys who are doing graduation have chosen commerce stream in order to get any kind of job in private concerns. Girls are doing BAs with the same objective. A few stories of highly successful people are doing the rounds, but those are mere exceptions and not the results any systematic efforts. Health Health is not a part of the current intervention of CINI. Health needs of the children of Rambagan are not apparent too. People believe sex workers have sufficient money to meet the health needs of their children. Most of the children get four meals a day. Immunisation coverage seems to be high. But Z-score analysis of the weight of 69 children in the 0-5 age-group, who participated in the health camp organised during the study period reveals that a significant proportion of children of the area are underweight. Mean z-score for weight of the children is estimated at (-)1.79 with a standard deviation of 1.28. Mean of the Z-score values significantly different from zero (p value=0.037).

22

The Way Forward

Undoubtedly the intervention of CINI during the last 20 years has brought significant changes in Rambagan. First of all, it has created a demand for education of children among the sex-worker mothers. The intervention is also successful in keeping the children (the girls) away from the sex trade. The intervention enjoys enormous community support. However, the current issues as identified by this study have a lot of impact on the children, which, if not properly addressed, would lead the intervention towards a dead end. The issue which tops the list is exposure. The current intervention has tried so much to keep the children away from home for most of the time of the day in order to minimise their exposure to the profession of their mothers. But the increasing number of flying sex workers in the area and their show-up on the streets is defeating the purpose. It cannot be stopped abruptly as some local residents of Rambagan have financial interest in it. Rent-cum-commission received from the flying sex workers is a good source of income for those who have inherited rooms or an entire house from their mothers or sisters who was earlier in profession. However, it may be possible to regulate the trade through proper advocacy and networking. Side by side, the intervention should improve the scope and reach of life skill education. Opportunities of being engaged in unsafe sex is so high for the adolescents of Rambagan, that without a very strong component of life skill education integrated with the current intervention programme, the whole purpose of the intervention is likely to fail. Reputation of the area as a place of immoral trafficking has tremendous impact on the personality and confidence of children. Most, who can afford, prefer to leave Rambagan as a place of permanent residence. There are exceptional families who are proud of their past tradition and

23

culture and feel passionate about the place. But they are very few in numbers. And their efforts to promote Rambagan as not-as-bad-asperceived are confined only within their relatives and family members. It requires a sustained campaign to re-brand Rambagan as a place worth living. People who stay in Dholpara (located outside the intervention area, but part of greater Rambagan) are talented artisan of cane work whose handicrafts are exported to different parts of the world. Promoting one good aspect of a place in a sustained manner can change the whole scenario. But there are possibilities of many. Children of Rambagan are football fans. A few children even passed the trial and got selected for coaching in Mohanbagan Athletic Club. But they could not join as their parents did not allow them to go to a place which was far away from home. Some local residents of Rambagan, by using personal influence, have been trying to set up a football academy within Rambagan in association with Mohanbagan Athletic Club. If it comes to exist, this will not only open a lot of opportunities for the children of Rambagan to fulfil their dream of becoming professional footballer, it will build a positive image of Rambagan. Apart from football academy, there are scopes of music academy, dancing school, theatre academy and many thing else. But those institutions should be of repute. Purpose of such institutions is not only to create opportunities, but also to piggyback the reputation of Rambagan. Enrollment itself speaks about the success of the coaching centres running under the current intervention. But the existing ones are not enough to give them a cutting edge in this age of competition. When it is strongly believed that children of Rambagan are as good as the children of other places, then there are no reasons why they should be lagging behind in higher studies and competitive examinations. Career counselling to the children depending on their natural talent and tie-ups with the professional coaching centres can help. Like any other societies all children of the area do not have uniform talent in education. There should be other avenues for them so that they can expect decent jobs after the basic education. Giving them computer skills and opportunities for other type of vocational training would definitely improve the impact of current intervention.

24

Health is not yet a part of the current intervention. The present study shows a good proportion of children below five years old are underweight. This shows there is a definite knowledge gap among the caregivers of the children. Improving health and nutrition of the under five children should be included in the list of stated objectives of the intervention. Issues of physical and verbal abuse should be taken up in mothers meetings. Members of Jagaran adolescent group act as changed agents in the community. They can be further capacitated to handle the issue of verbal abuse at the community level. Sex workers and most of the other households of the intervention area have irregular income. On some days their income may be very high followed by an equal amount of spending. But they do not know if they would have the same earning on the very next day. Mothers rue over the fact that sometimes they do not have any money left to buy a pencil for their children. Inculcating a habit of savings in them for adverse situation and for the future of their children is important. Mothers may be encouraged to form self-help groups which help create a corpus out of systematic savings. The suggestions mentioned above are based on the thought process of the researchers involved in the study. Feasibility of implementing them is absolutely dependent on the present and future scope of intervention, policy of the organisation and last but not the least, community acceptance. Convergence with the ICPS may be explored. Some components of the current intervention e.g., sishughar falls very much within the scope of ICPS (foster care). ICPS also offers sponsorship for continuation of education. However, whatever is expected through ICPS is the basic minimum, which is already being received by most of the children of the area through the current intervention. Tie-ups with professional institutions (corporate support) along with convergence with ICPS can be an innovative model for strengthening the current intervention at this juncture.

25