NREGA worker’s son scripts success story, cracks IIT
Bhimsagar village in Osian tehsil of Jodhpur is celebrating the returns of the investment they made while contributing funds for meeting the expenses of IIT coaching in Kota for their tabur (son) Baldev Bishnoi.
Son of MGNAREGA workers (parents) bid adieu to his well-wishers three years ago with folded hands atop a crowded bus to Kota. He barely had three dresses and one pair of extra sleepers stuffed in an old briefcase gifted by his uncle to carry with him to his dream city Kota.
Living up to the expectations, he in his second attempt, scripted a success story in JEE Advanced with 7,497 AIR rank in a competition contested by over 13 lakh brains across the country. His family members and most of his villagers know that Baldev is first from the cluster of 100 villages who will become an Abiyanta (Engineer).
Born in a modest farmer family, who grows only one crop in a year in less than one bigha of 15 bigha land they owned due to low rainfall. Meeting the basic needs is also a luxury for the family. Baldev and his two siblings have many times struggled even for two meals a day, leave aside other basic amenities.
“Even you own 100 bigha of land will not pull you from poverty. MGNAREGA came as a life saver for us. My husband and I have been working for the last eight years. It fetches us work for less than 10 days a month but has been a major regular source of earning for us,” said Suman Devi, mother of Baldev. The family has borrowed money from almost all relatives and dear ones to fund his expenses in Kota.
The life of Baldev changed after his father admitted him to a private school on the insistence of his village school considering his interest in studies.
“My life changing decision was joining RSS Shaka close to my place in Osian in Class IX. In Shaka, only I heard about IITs and Kota and gradually decided to go for IITs,” said Baldev. His discipline, dedication, and leadership have earned him the responsibility of heading one of the four Shakas in Osian.
“My Shaka colleagues may not have helped me financially but they have always supported and guided during my three years in Kota,” said Baldev who blamed reservation in the higher education responsible for keeping some of the best branches out of his reach. Baldev comes from a caste which is listed as OBC in Rajasthan and General in Central level.
The biggest challenge for the family is to further arrange the funds for his engineering for four years. “Since the result, I have been thinking whom can help us. I am also planning to take loan from the cooperatives but I am unsure that they will pass any amount as we have yet to pay the previous loan,” said Baldev.
