MP’s ‘Abuse-Free Village’ Reforms Foul Mouth With Rs 500 Fine
Thanks to a community-driven initiative to reform the society
Bhopal: An obscure village in Madhya Pradesh has shot into limelight for cultivating a unique identity as an ‘abuse-free’ settlement, thanks to a community-driven initiative to reform the society.
Borsar in the Burhanpur district has banned use of foul language in the village, even in casual conversations, by its inhabitants and violation of the ‘behavioural code’ attracts either a fine of Rs 500 or free labour to clean the streets for an hour, for the offender.
“The move has not only helped reform the society, but also promote social harmony in the village”, Ashwin Patil, the brain behind the initiative, said on Thursday.
He along with the sarpanch and deputy sarpanch of the village, Antar Singh and Vinod Shinde respectively, led the ‘Sanskar Kranti’ (revolution of cultural values) campaign to make Borsar free of cuss words, in public.
According to Mr. Patil who returned to his native village of Borsar a few months ago after spending around two decades in Mumbai, the idea to free the village of foul language struck when he noticed that minor disagreements among the villagers often escalated into a dispute due to use of abusive words by the warring individuals.
He then floated the idea of turning Borsar an ‘abuse-free’ village by imposing some deterrent measures like penalties, with the sarpanch and deputy sarpanch, leading to the birth of the ‘Sanskar Kranti’ campaign.
A meeting of the villagers was called to make them aware of the penalty and punishment to be imposed on those people who violated the ‘behavioural code’.
Monitoring committees have been formed in each ward of the village to keep a vigil on such offenders and promptly take action against them.
Hoardings and banners have also been put up at several places in the village to caution the villagers not to use foul language in public.
“The village now can boast of being an ‘abuse-free’ settlement”, Mr. Patil said.
Community-driven measures have now been undertaken to make the village green with large scale plantation of trees and improve the hygiene, after the success of the ‘Sanskar Kranti’.
