They join Anna University but struggle for money
Special Correspondent
August 11, 2018 00:00 IST
V Dinesh.handout_e_mail
N. Usha Nanthini was in class VIII when her father, who had gone to Saudi Arabia on contract fishing, died mysteriously in 2013. The family could not even afford to bring back the body of Narayanan, her father, and had given consent to have the body buried there itself.
Her widowed mother took up fish cleaning work to eke out a living. Nanthini wanted to drop out and join her mother, but Umayammal, 41, was very clear that she should continue her studies.
Thanks to her mother’s persuasion, she continued her studies in the Government school at Thangachimadam in Rameswaram island and passed class X scoring 483 out of 500 marks. The ‘elite school’, established here for poor students offered her special coaching with free boarding and lodging facilities. She cleared plus two examinations with a cut off mark of 195.50 and secured admission in the prestigious College of Engineering Guindy (CEG), a constituent college of Anna University
She has opted for Information Technology in CEG but financial constraints prove to be a stumbling block. Her mother, who earns about Rs. 200 per day, was clueless and one of her customer’s son, who is employed in Bengaluru helped her with Rs. 40,000, mobilised through his friends.
The poor widow has managed to admit her daughter after borrowing Rs. 20,000 and pledging some jewels. Nanthini has paid Rs. 20,625 towards admission and Rs. 31,000 for the hostel but has no clue to meet the subsequent expenditure. “I want to complete the course and take care of my mother but money is a problem,” she says. Recalling her husband’s death, Umayammal said that he had worked in Saudi Arabia for two years and had gone back on September 26, 2013 after a break but died within 14 days,
Neither the employer nor the government offered her any compensation, she added.
Dinesh, a Dalit boy from Panaiadiyendal near Kilakarai, who has joined Electronics and Communication Engineering in CEG under the ‘self-support’ category, is also struggling for financial support.
His parents are farm workers and his father has borrowed money to pay the admission fee of Rs. 14,200 and hostel fee of Rs. 32,170, he says.
Special Correspondent
August 11, 2018 00:00 IST
V Dinesh.handout_e_mail
N. Usha Nanthini was in class VIII when her father, who had gone to Saudi Arabia on contract fishing, died mysteriously in 2013. The family could not even afford to bring back the body of Narayanan, her father, and had given consent to have the body buried there itself.
Her widowed mother took up fish cleaning work to eke out a living. Nanthini wanted to drop out and join her mother, but Umayammal, 41, was very clear that she should continue her studies.
Thanks to her mother’s persuasion, she continued her studies in the Government school at Thangachimadam in Rameswaram island and passed class X scoring 483 out of 500 marks. The ‘elite school’, established here for poor students offered her special coaching with free boarding and lodging facilities. She cleared plus two examinations with a cut off mark of 195.50 and secured admission in the prestigious College of Engineering Guindy (CEG), a constituent college of Anna University
She has opted for Information Technology in CEG but financial constraints prove to be a stumbling block. Her mother, who earns about Rs. 200 per day, was clueless and one of her customer’s son, who is employed in Bengaluru helped her with Rs. 40,000, mobilised through his friends.
The poor widow has managed to admit her daughter after borrowing Rs. 20,000 and pledging some jewels. Nanthini has paid Rs. 20,625 towards admission and Rs. 31,000 for the hostel but has no clue to meet the subsequent expenditure. “I want to complete the course and take care of my mother but money is a problem,” she says. Recalling her husband’s death, Umayammal said that he had worked in Saudi Arabia for two years and had gone back on September 26, 2013 after a break but died within 14 days,
Neither the employer nor the government offered her any compensation, she added.
Dinesh, a Dalit boy from Panaiadiyendal near Kilakarai, who has joined Electronics and Communication Engineering in CEG under the ‘self-support’ category, is also struggling for financial support.
His parents are farm workers and his father has borrowed money to pay the admission fee of Rs. 14,200 and hostel fee of Rs. 32,170, he says.
