Mamta Sangte

Mamta Sangte

Ujjain-based Mamta Sangte is an epitome of women power. A Black Belt holder, she has trained young girls in martial arts, all for free. She has also imparted this training to 250 women ‘safai karamcharis’ in Delhi after the Nirbhaya tragedy.

Her commitment to uplift underprivileged is remarkable. She has made thousands of women self-dependent by providing them vocational training and starting self-saving initiatives. Mamta also holds the distinction of being the first woman representative from Madhya Pradesh at the world trade fair in Delhi in 2006. During lockdown, she helped many affected families and was honoured for her humanitarian work. Her rakhi bonding with border brothers is unique too. 

An array of awards and honours have been bestowed upon her: State-level Vijayaraje Scindia Samaj Sewa Award (2009); The Most Inspiring Woman of India 2021, presented by Swaran Bharat Pariwar; Nari Shakti Samman 2022; Best Businesswoman Award three times 

(once awarded by Sushma Swaraj); Star Health &Allied Insurance Co. Ltd, Ujjain award for social service during lockdown; Corona Sewa Samman 2021 by Sewa Bharti Ujjain; Indore Shiromani 2020-21….. the list is almost endless.

In an interview with Tirtho’s Banerjee, she talks about the causes she espouses.
Excerpts:

How was your childhood like?

When I was in class 9, my father fell ill and lay bed-ridden. My mother used to do manual labour to raise six of my siblings — four sisters and two brothers. I felt I should also contribute to family’s income and started teaching girls from slums and poor families in Sewa Bharti. They used to pay me Rs 100 a month. The Sewa Bharti people told me to get more kids so I could earn more. So, I searched for more such girls and collected them there. Today, there are 50 Sewa Bharti kendras all across Ujjain. We give training in sewing, stitching; hold coaching and also provide jobs to the girls.

How did you get into martial arts?

I saw my brother learning martial arts and I told my father I wished to do something similar. He agreed and thus I started attending martial arts classes still very young. I didn’t have fees to pay for the martial arts training. I told my sir — the instructor – I couldn’t pay and he said not to worry. Gradually, with a lot of practice, I became a Black Belt. Sir had ensured that I take the state-level exam for Black Belt referee. After I cleared it, I started giving martial arts training for free in schools, mostly government ones. 

And how did you go to trade fair in Delhi?

The work at Sewa Bharti also continued. We tried to make women self-dependent by starting self-help groups. We gave them training in pickle, papad and murabba making. Also, in batik printing, making dupatta, handmade decorations and paper envelopes. It got noticed.
The social welfare minister in Madhya Pradesh was highly impressed with my work and sent me to International Trade Fair in Delhi. I was the first woman to represent MP at the event in 2012. After getting exposure there, I organized 40-45 fairs where we gave loans to the needy.

You also trained women safai karamcharis in martial arts in Delhi.

Yes. It was after the Nirbhaya tragedy that I was invited to impart martial arts training to women safai karamcharis. I gave training to 250 of them. I stayed in Delhi for one month. I also gave martial arts training free in 1,200 school and colleges after the incident. I was also included in a group formed by the Collector to

Bonding with the jawans on the borders

catch eve-teasers during Kumbh Mela, while donning plain clothes.

You encountered many personal tragedies too. Did they deter you?

My father passed away in 1997. My younger brother died in an accident within three months of my father’s passing away. On August 15, 2017 one of my brothers died due to heart attack. When my mother died in September the same year, there was no one to perform the last rites and light her pyre. I did it and incidentally, it was for the first time that a woman from the Valmiki Samaj performed such a ritual.
But personal tragedies on steeled my resolve further. I realized life is short and we need to make it purposeful.

Covid hit the poor the hardest. What was your contribution during this crisis?

During lockdown, the daily labourers lost their jobs. They didn’t know what to do. For two years, I ensured that 5,000 daily labourers– from vegetable vendors, scrap dealers to auto drivers — got ration every day. I roped in many charity organizations and raised funds. There was a time when I got too engrossed in the work that I didn’t go home for almost two months. I had taken down the mobile numbers of all the labourers and the address of those who didn’t have a handset. Steadily, their lives came back on track.

Ensuring that the poor and uemployed got their ration
during the pandemic

You seem to have a great bond with jawans deployed on the borders.

I have travelled many border areas and developed a proximity with them. For the last 12 years, our group Sangini has dispatched 5,000 rakhis (through Speed Post) to our ‘brothers’ stationed on the borders. In 2010, I went to Wagah border. I also visited the Naxalite-hit Narayanpura area. Last year, I went to the Uri sector. At all these places, I tied rakhi to my border brothers.

Tears roll down the cheeks of many soldiers when we tie rakhi on their wrists. It is an emotional moment.

Sangini, her group dispatched 5,000 rakhis (through Speed
Post) to jawans stationed on India`s borders

Which other places have you taken your charity to?

During the Uttarakhand floods in 2013, I started from MP with a truckful of essential food commodities. Beyond a certain point, the administration refused to let us go further with the truck. They said, “You leave the stuff, we will do the needful.” But I wanted to ensure it reaches its destination and the right beneficiaries. It was then that the Border Security Force (BSF) jawans came to my rescue. They drove the truck through a different route and reached the stuff to those who needed it the most.

I have also travelled to Kashmir (during 2014 floods), Kathmandu (during 2015 earthquake), Kerala (during 2018 floods) and Uddhampur to dispatch relief aid. 
I recently got an invitation to visit villages near the Line of Control (LoC) from the BSF to give training to women so that they can generate jobs for themselves and get self-employed. It is a big challenge for me and I will be happy if I am able to help them out and chart a new path for them.

Why didn’t you get married?

I think I am wedded to my causes. I am 45 and I have devoted my life for the country. I want to do more and more so that I am remembered as a champion of social causes that I stand for.