UP govt co-opts Green Gang in Mission Shakti for drive against anti-socials

The Green Gang, comprising women volunteers, is running de-addiction and anti-gambling campaigns in rural areas of Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh.

Over the next six months, volunteers of the Green Gang, active in the villages of Uttar Pradresh’s Purvanchal region, will launch a drive against anti-social elements involved in harassment and exploitation of women.

The Green Gang at work in a village in Uttar Pradesh. (HT FILE PHOTO)

The state government has roped in the Green Gang under the Mission Shakti programme launched on Saturday for the security, empowerment and dignity of women and girls across the state.

The Green Gang, comprising women volunteers, is running de-addiction and anti-gambling campaigns in rural areas of Purvanchal region, said a spokesperson of the state government.

They will take responsibility for the security of women in 200 villages in Varanasi, Sonbhadra, Mirzapur, Jaunpur, Chandauli and Ayodhya districts. In the coming months, the Green Gang will be activated in 50 more villages, he said.

Volunteers will also celebrate the birth of the girl child in villages. As a mark of happiness, they will put a green impression on the door and wall of houses where girls are born. Members will pursue complaints of harassment and ensure that anti-social elements involved in harassment of women are put behind bars, the spokesperson said.

The Green Gang is run by Hope Welfare Trust constituted by students of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 2015. It will also impart self-defence training to girls. The volunteers will enlighten rural women and girls about the law and organise programmes to boost their self-confidence, he added.

The Green Gang has launched a self-defence programme in 10 villages where Maoists had been active. Dressed in green sarees, the volunteers of Green Gang move on foot from one village to another, urging people to give up gambling and liquor, he said.

Mission Shakti is a six-month programme to sensitise people to respect and provide security to women. It was launched by the state government on October 17 (from the beginning of the Shardiya Navratri) and will run till April next year (Vasantik Navratri).