Jaleswar: Septuagenarian Kanchanbala is well known for her social services in Jaleswar area of Balasore. Significantly, she has been bringing up and educating 15 helpless, destitute and orphaned children at her house. She lives at Sarasida in Gopimohanpur panchayat under this block.
She was leading a happy life along with her husaband Rabindra and two sons – Biswanath and Baidyanath. However, life turned topsy-turvy after her husband Rabindra passed away in 2008. Rabindra was a teacher.
Her two sons are well established. The elder son is an engineer and her younger son is doing service in Navy and stays with his family abroad.
Her sons wanted her to live with them, but she refused the luxuries of life at the old age. She loved her village and house.
She started a noble work and turned her house a Kanyashram in 2013. Since then, she has been taking care of 15 orphaned children and giving them education with her money.
Barsha Tudu, Mani, Puja, Nilima, Sujata Hansda are of the girls being brought up by her.
As Sujata, Mama, Puja and Mini are orphaned, Kanchanbakla pay more attention on the four.
When she was asked about how she manages to run the Kanyashram, she said, ”I get pension of my husband. Rest comes from my house in Jaleswar. There is income from the farmland. In case of shortcomings, may sons bear the expenses.”
She has been running the Kanyashram for the last seven years without government support.
She said if the state and central government provide her financial support, she could keep more helpless girls and bring them to the social mainstream.
PNN