Title :Uday Jagtap

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SUbject :Uday jagtap ,Vice President of Adarsh Mitra Mandal.

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Uday jagtap is the Vice President of Adarsh Mitra Mandal.
At least 80 children from Gadchiroli, one of the focal points of the Naxal insurgency in Maharashtra, visited the city on August 26. It was organised by the Gadchiroli Police Dal, the Adarsh Mitra Mandal and other Maharashtra-based organizations to show city and the possibilities of a life different from the career of a Naxal insurgent to children. Adarsh Mitra Mandal and Ganesh Utsav organising mandal, decided (at least four months ago) to work with the children most affected by the Naxalite movement in the region.

Uday Jagtap, Vice President of Adarsh Mitra Mandal said, “We want them to grow up and choose more productive paths instead of joining the movement. Some time ago we provided them with an educational kit wherein they learned about jewelery design, the solar system, construction and other things which will help them to develop their skills. We don’t want them to follow in the footsteps of their parents.”
The educational kit provided to the children consisted of easy telescope and airplane-making kits, DIY film and picture projector kits, DIY periscopes kits, knitting know-how, rubber band and bracelet makers, puzzles, home products-making kits, DIY Solar System kits, among other things.

Uday jagtap, was born in a poor family, but his mother always taught him to help needy people from the times of his childhood

Uday Jagatap says, ”My Mother always taught me to fight with a poor condition and live a life with self respect. My father had heart attack, he was ill for 12 years. Moreover my younger brother Sandeep left his education and started working but my mother always taught us to work for poor and needy people so that the conditions that we faced in our lives should not be faced by others.”

The Adarsh Mitra Mandal of Dhankawdi area has transformed the lives of criminals and their families in more ways than one.

Uday Jagtap is the brain behind many of the social initiatives taken up by the Mandal. Jagtap said he wanted to do something to change the fact that many youngsters in the area of the Adarshnagar slums idolised criminals.

"Kids as young as 14 would swear by the local dons. For them the ?bhai' was their hero. If murderers and rapists were to become their idols in life, what future did they have?" Jagtap said

The Adarsh Mitra Mandal's took up the objective to dissuade children from following the path of crime. "We started the flex poster and sports library projects. We would make flex boards of inspirational figures along with their information. We then placed the boards outside the children's houses. Gradually, every house in Adarshnagar began to sport such banners. We soon had Sachin Tendulkar, APJ Abdul Kalam, Saina Nehwal and others adorning the walls instead of the local dons. The youth got a positive message," Jagtap said.

The sports library project too had a positive impact. Children were given sports equipment of their choice for a daily rent of Re 1. "Sports kept their minds busy and bodies fit," Jagtap added.

It was the mandal's success in Dhankawdi that prompted the police commissionerate to introduce their model of youth redevelopment in Janata Vasahat near Parvati. "Senior police inspector Vijaysinh Gaikwad sought my involvement in the Dattawadi area. We held several meetings with the police and local volunteers. The solution was simple: Give the youth some direction and the rest would fall in place."

Police and the Adarsh Mitra Mandal brought together 24 Ganapati mandals from adjoining areas and chalked out a strategy (see box).

"Before 2008 about 315 offences were registered in Dattawadi area, including 13 murders and 29 MCOCA cases. During Gaikwad's three-year tenure, the number of murder cases dropped to 3. We wish he was never transferred," said Jeevan Mane, a local leader from Janata Vasahat, who actively participated in the 5-year transformation programme.

"No criminal dared to create trouble in the locality. Gaikwad had a reach in the masses which made him accessible to every person," said Jagtap.

Gaikwad, who is now deputy superintendent of police at CID, said, "Police alone cannot achieve anything. The Adarsh Mitra Mandal, local volunteers and the law-enforcing agency worked together to rid the area of crime."

Several criminals from the locality have been rehabilitated, women have household businesses and children are going to school. "Value education classes taught the kids respect. What they needed was right guidance and constructive activities," said Gaikwad, who believes that only strict policing is not the answer. "We also succeeded in creating a positive image of the police. The crooks feared us while the residents found it easy to approach us," he added.

"The government asks Maoists and terrorists to lay down their weapons. In return, they are given jobs and a life of dignity. Why not have a similar approach towards these children who get into crime due to bad company and lack of objective in life?" concluded Jagtap.

Step 1: Rehabilitation of criminals. About 190 criminals from the locality took a pledge to take the righteous path in life. About 150 of them got jobs as salesmen, security guards, call centre employees among others

Step 2: Education for children. Involving them in sports, art and social activities through Ganesh mandals

Step 3: Elaborate lecture sessions for criminals and local children on the evils of taking the crime path

Step 4: A helpline for women who faced molestation or domestic problems. The service has now been extended throughout the state

1.Online lectures (onlinevyakhyanmala.org) of well-known scientists and personalities on virtues of positive and honest living

2.CCTVs fitted at bus stops and other public places to check eve-teasing and pick-pocketing

3.Sports library and flex board project, which will now be emulated in other areas of Maharashtra and also in a town in the US

4.Value education classes. Over 60 children joined the sessions

5.A project at Hire High School in Parvati Darshan brought down failure rate from 24 in 2012 to 3 in 2013