LUCKNOW: For decades, life for the women of Pandi, a remote tribal village nestled amid forests and hills in Uttar Pradesh’s Chandauli district, revolved around the boundaries of their village. Most had never travelled beyond its narrow forest tracks, let alone seen a city. On Monday, however, that changed as 40 tribal women embarked on their first-ever journey to Varanasi under the Uttar Pradesh Police’s Mission Shakti initiative, fulfilling what many described as a lifelong dream.The special visit was organised on the directions of Varanasi Range DIG Vaibhav Krishna after he visited Pandi village during a community outreach programme on June 15. During his interaction with residents, the officer was surprised to learn that most women had never stepped outside the village due to poverty, poor connectivity and the absence of reliable transport.When asked what they would like to see if given an opportunity, the answer was unanimous: Varanasi and the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Within two weeks, the promise was fulfilled.A special police bus reached the village at around 9 am on Monday to transport the women, accompanied by 10 male family members and several children. Two inspectors, four sub-inspectors and other police personnel escorted the group throughout the journey, while food, transportation and other logistical arrangements were made by the police.For many of the women, the trip was their first experience of travelling on a highway, seeing a bustling city, traffic signals, shopping complexes and multi-storey buildings.The group’s first stop was the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, where the women offered prayers after years of only hearing stories about the shrine from their parents and grandparents. The visitors later toured Sankat Mochan Temple, Durga Kund Temple and other prominent religious sites in Varanasi. The itinerary also included a visit to a shopping mall, offering many of the villagers their first glimpse of modern urban life.“It has always been our dream to step outside our village, but visiting the Kashi Vishwanath Temple was an even bigger dream. We had only heard about it from our parents and grandparents,” said Beena Kumari, who made the journey with her four-year-old child.Speaking after the visit, DIG Vaibhav Krishna said the initiative was conceived not merely as a pilgrimage but as an effort to connect people living in remote and underserved regions with the mainstream.“Mission Shakti is not confined to women’s safety alone. It is also about empowering women, expanding opportunities and ensuring that people living in the most remote corners of the state feel connected with society and its cultural heritage,” he said.According to Chandauli Superintendent of Police Akash Patel, the visitors included women such as Durgawati Devi, Saraswati, Kalawati, Pushpa and Prabhavati, many of whom are over 40 years old and had never travelled outside their village.Located deep inside the Naugarh forest area near the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border, Pandi is home to around 80 families, most of whom depend on daily wage labour, subsistence farming and forest produce for survival. The village continues to struggle with poor road connectivity, limited mobile network coverage and seasonal drinking water shortages, leaving residents largely isolated from urban life.
