Frontlist | Odisha Engineering Student Turns Daily Wage Labourer

Frontlist | Odisha Engineering Student Turns Daily Wage Labourer
on Feb 11, 2021

A civil engineering student, Rosy Behera, has been working on a road project under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for the last three weeks to deposit a sum of Rs 24,500 in order to obtain her diploma certificate.

A civil engineering student, Rosy Behera, 20, works as a daily wager in Puri to pay her college dues. She has been working on a road project under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for the last three weeks to deposit a sum of Rs 24,500 in order to obtain her diploma certificate. Rosy is a resident of Goradipidha village under Chainpur Panchayat in Puri district of Odisha. After completing my diploma in Civil Engineering in 2019, I am not able to arrange funds for my Bachelor's degree. I also have to pay an outstanding amount of Rs 24,500 to the diploma school, Rosy Behera told ANI. Despite studying civil engineering, Rosy carries mounds of earth on her head as a daily wager. After finishing her diploma course, Rosy said she had checked with a private engineering college if she could pursue a B.Tech degree course on a government scholarship. She was informed that her tuition fees would be borne by the government as she belongs to a Scheduled Caste category, however, she would have to pay the hostel and college bus fee from her own pocket. I was denied my diploma certificate by the college authority, despite my repeated request to college authorities and local MLA. I could not find other options to clear my hostel dues and bus fees. As I am a Harijan girl, the government was paying my entire college fees. But hostel and bus fees were not included in it. Even our house is constructed on government land. As I passed matric with a good number, I got a scholarship from the government and joined Barunei Institute of Engineering and Technology (BIET) Khordha, she said. To earn money, Rosy began working as a daily wager under the MGNREGS along with her parents, sisters, and grandfather. My immediate younger sister came forward to help me despite her pursuing a B.Tech programme in computer science. I think the wage accumulated by family members from the MGNREGS work would partly solve my problem to get my certificate from BIET. But I have to arrange a lot of money for further studies, said Rosy Behera. Sheshdev Rout, Block welfare extension officer, Delang Block said that the administration will look into the matter to help her. Rosy couldn't pay her college fees because of the financial situation. She hasn't received a diploma certificate. We will look into the matter, we will help her. We will report it to the administration to help her Mr Rout said. Read More: AAP Teacher Association To Fight DU Polls Source: NDTV