IPS officer’s education drive helps bedia youth escape cycle of sex work in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal: IPS officer Veerendra Mishra has spent years working with Madhya Pradesh’s Bedia community to help younger generations break out of intergenerational sex work through education.

Mishra, who has served in multiple districts across the state, said his efforts have helped produce engineers, lawyers, and IAS officers from a community where girls have traditionally entered sex work at puberty and boys often act as procurers.

The Bedias are classified as a Nomadic and Denotified Tribe. Denotified in 1952 after being labeled a ‘criminal tribe’ under British rule, many Bedia families still face stigma, landlessness, and limited access to formal jobs. In parts of MP, sex work has persisted as both a family trade and custom.

Mishra began working with Bedia villages over a decade ago. His approach focuses on school enrollment, hostels for girls, and mentorship to keep children in classrooms past the age when they are typically pulled into sex work.

“We started with 12 children. Today, thousands have gone through school,” Mishra said. “Some are now in engineering colleges. A few are preparing for civil services. We have lawyers practicing in district courts.”

His team partners with local NGOs and teachers to track attendance, provide scholarships, and run awareness camps for parents. For girls, residential facilities are critical — they offer safety and distance from community pressure once they hit puberty.