Rajendra Bandhu : Carrier of silent revolution on the road of Indore.
Indore is changing. Throughout society, where jobs such as mechanics and driving have traditionally been reserved for men and it is assumed that women cannot do these jobs, today there are hundreds of women working as mechanics and drivers in Indore.
This effort of change in Indore started in 2015 in the form of silent revolution. This silent revolution was started by social activist Rajendra Bandhu. By establishing an organization called “Samaan Society” and forming a strong team, this revolution was realized on the road of Indore.
Today, in Indore, hundreds of women are seen driving vehicles on the roads as professional drivers. From heavy vehicles like buses to mini trucks, taxis and e-rickshaws together, more than 300 women are working as drivers. Along with this, more than fifty women are working as bike mechanics.Indore city today has become the first city in the country to set up a women’s mechanic garage. At present, there are three such garages in the city under the name of ‘Yantika Service Center’, which are operated entirely by women mechanics. Along with this, a new dimension has been added in the name of Garage on Wheels in Indore, in which the garage has been setup in a Maruti Venue. This garage is manned by a lady mechanic and driven by a lady driver. If someone’s vehicle stops on the way, then it reaches the garage on the spot on a call. Along with this, the same garage also provides home access service of bike servicing to the people.
The special thing is that these women are not limited to mechanic and driving skills, but they are capable of presenting their point of view. Along with this, they are also trying to bring awareness in the society, help the women victims of violence and remove the evils like child marriage, dowry, etc in the society.
Born on 26 February 1968 in a town “Khategaon” in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh, Rajendra Bandhu did their elementary education in the government school of their town. The financial condition of the family was very weak, so had to go to work since childhood. Growing up, it was found that this process is called ‘Child Labour’. At the age of 18, he continued his education privately while working as a support staff in an NGO of Dewas. In this journey from childhood to youth, he got education up to Postgraduate in History and law and M.Phil as research degree.
Apart from working for 25 years in various NGOs, as a freelance journalist, special writing was done on ground issues in various newspapers of the country. After obtaining law degree in the year 2011, advocacy was started on cases related to women’s rights as an advocate.
In this way the journey of life was started as a child labour. Later on, life went on expanding to various stages including social worker, journalist-author, development consultant, lawyer and founder of Samaan Society and Women Mechanic Garage “YANTRIKA”. You can either call a life made of this variation as a “khichdi” or a bouquet made of flowers of different colours and types. But the special thing is that Rajendra Bandhu have been able to make their own identity at all these stages in life till now. As a journalist and writer, he is counted among the founders of development journalism in the country, while working with more than 35 organizations in five states of the country as a development consultant and having expertise on women’s rights laws as an advocate.