How an IAS officer’s efforts transformed a Muzaffarnagar village once branded as ‘criminal’

LUCKNOW: In 1973, Yogendra Narain, a young IAS officer, was posted to Muzaffarnagar as district magistrate. Soon after, a group of men from the Banwariya community sought his intervention, accusing the police of harassment.

The Banwariyas, a decriminalised community, still bore the stigma of the pre-1947 British law that branded them as a tribe of thieves and criminals.Narain took serious note of the matter and visited Oon village, where the community lived. The relationship he began around 1974–75 continues to this day, even as Narain is now in his 80s. He ensured the construction of a school, encouraged community members to pursue education and jobs, and helped them break away from a life of crime.

Today, there are several homes in the village that have put up Narain's photo, with some even praying to him.

Over the past 50 years, around 130 children from the village have secured govt jobs, in the police, revenue department, and as teachers. "I was DM of Muzaffarnagar from 1973 to 1976. When the Banwariya community members met me, their concern was that whenever a crime took place in the area, the police picked up their people even if they were innocent.

I camped in Oon village to understand their problems. They told us there was no school, no employment, and constant police harassment.

I decided to take the matter up with the SSP," Narain told TOI. The village soon got a school, two state tubewells, and a power supply. Narain insisted on education for the girls and forced the police to stop harassing the community. Local youth were given preference for local jobs. A soap factory was also set up, which eventually closed. Many in the community remain in touch with him, including Jeetram, who was unemployed in the late 1970s when he first met Narain. He later joined the revenue department and retired as a Kanungo. "What Narain ji did for us shows how, if an official truly cares, they can drastically change people's lives. Today, 99% of our village is employed in some way or another," said Jeetram, who now runs the Jan Chetna Kalyan Samiti.