Girl limps her way to a bright future

DHENKANAL: Being physically handicapped is not a reason strong enough to deter the 16-year-old Koili Nayak of Aluajharan village in Dhenkanal from pursuing academics.Driven by a strong desire to carve out a career as a teacher, this daughter of a daily wager limps her way to college, around 7 km from her home, daily. Koili was born with one leg and an arm bent. Overcoming the shortcomings, apart from her parents’ strong opposition to her education, Koili attended the Aluajharan Sevashram School till standard V.This exercise required her to cross the busy Dhenkanal-Kamakshyanagar main road on one leg, for five long years.Despite stiff resistance from her parents, who found it increasingly difficult to feed a family of nine and educate their disabled daughter simultaneously, Koili secured admission in the Aluajharan High School. She passed the Higher Secondary Examination in second division. “We are three sisters. One is mentally challenged and another is widowed with three children,” said Koili.Convincing her parents for college education was a tough job. “My parents were not in a position to fund my education but I insisted. I was abused and beaten. I refused food for three consecutive days following which my parents finally relented,” Koili recounts.Koili has enrolled in the Parimal Mahavidyalay for Plus-II Arts. This has cost her father, Bulu Nayak, Rs 1,165 which he had to borrow. Despite running from pillar to post, her father has failed to secure succour for Koili’s education. Several futile rounds to the local block office and district offices later, Bulu Nayak is a bitter man.“The administration’s tall claims of working for the development of the underprivileged is of no value. I have no land of my own. I suffer from an impaired vision. And nobody helped me with Koili’s education,” he scoffs.Sources in the block office said the District Child Welfare Committee on Monday directed the Kamakshyanagar block administration to provide Koili with all the facilities a physically challenged person is entitled to under Government provisions.