Loisingha: Munu Rana, a resident of Kumbharpada slum under Loisingha block in Bolangir district, is a meritorious student.
He is presently pursuing his MA from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) at Deonar in Mumbai.
Munu is now working as a helper on a truck so that he can buy a laptop and continue his education online seamlessly. He was Thursday spotted working as a helper by some people who were staging a dharna at the block office.
After coming to know about him, an OrissaPOST correspondent met him and he narrated his story.
Munu has a younger brother. It was when he was in Class X in 2009, their father Chakradhar Rana died. The family’s burden fell on their mother Banita. She had to work at a local sattu farm to educate her two children.
In order to help his mother financially, Munu would work as a sweeper at a computer training institute. He would also find time to work at a water kiosk. Whatever he would earn, he would help his mother meet family expenses and fund his education cost.
With much difficulty, he completed his Plus III. He has done B.Ed from Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya in Maharashtra. He enrolled for MA at Tata Institute of Social Sciences in 2019.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he had to return home in April last year. Now he is continuing his study online with the help of his mobile phone. As he is facing problems to study through a mobile phone, he has requested the district administration and the local MLA to provide him a laptop.
Meanwhile several weeks have passed and his request has not been met by the district administration and the MLA.
Eventually, he decided to work as a helper and buy a laptop from whatever money he makes from the profession.
PNN