woman fights the drug abuse menace

Rekha Jhingan

Rekha Jhingan dreams of a society free from drug addicts and child labour. A passionate social activist and a determined woman Rekha is running an NGO Sahaj Sambhav dedicated for the rehabilitation of drug addicts. 
In a tete-a-tete with Cityplus, this resident of Sector 17E shares her love and passion for social work. 

The beginning
Rekha shares, "When I was in college I used to teach poor kids. I was also working for Bhartiya Children Shiksha Samiti and it was at that time I got to know about 
child labourers. At that 
time, I decided to do work for the society because I got to know the truth and 
the difficulties prevailing in the society." 

The real journey 
After completing her graduation, Rekha got married and couldn't continue with her social works. But as they say you can't be away from your passion for a long time, after few years Rekha was back to doing what she loved the most. She worked in the movement against child labour for  Swami Agnivesh and got to know about the ugly face of the bangle industry at Firozabad. "I was on the campaign to Firozabad and what I saw there was shocking. Most of the women were widows and were in their thirties. Their husbands died of TB because of working in the bangle's industry since childhood. I then decided to work for the women and started working in the slum areas including Hosagipur, Bharat Vihar, etc." 

Turning point
Rekha though involved in the social work for women and children turned to help drug addicts. She shares, "My husband who was once a national athlete became a  smack addict in 80s. In 1985, his health was seriously affected. Till 2000, I could not do anything effective for him but later, I took him to a rehabilitation centre. During that period we became financially and socially weak. I then decided to work for de-addiction of the people and started a campaign for them and for their acceptance in the family and the society."

her Work for drugs addicts
Rekha says "I started going to seminars and campaigns of various organisations related to drug de-addiction so that I could do something for my husband and family. In 2006, I opened my drug de-addiction centre for women, ‘Sahaj Sambhav’. Now, Sahaj Sambhav is working in the fields of drug de-addiction/alcoholism for men and women, HIV/AIDS awareness, women welfare, child labourers and other social activities."

Satisfaction from work
In her journey at Sahaj Sambhav, she has adopted many people while carrying on her campaigns at railway stations, slums, etc. She says, "Many times I have picked people who had a will to do something and leave drugs. I have even adopted beggars who used to beg for drugs. Many of them are now settled and some of them are with us helping us in our cause."