The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Poverty may cut short her ambition

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Saturday, Aug 25, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Poverty may cut short her ambition

Staff Reporter

Tribal girl is forced to give up engineering studies as she is unable to pay the admission and other fees, and works in the fields

Photo: R. Raju

Victim of fate: Nagalaxmi, who secured a rank in Eamcet, is now working as farm labourer. —

MANTHANI (KARIMNAGAR DT): She is a poor tribal girl who secured rank in Eamcet examination and got admission into a reputed private engineering college of Hyderabad, but has been turned into an agricultural labourer and is working in the fields as she is unable to pay the fee.

Meet Pittala Nagalaxmi, a primitive tribal girl living in a small hut in the interior Kamampalli village of Manthani Mutharam mandal in the district, who secured 11,801 rank in the Eamcet examination without any coaching. She studied up to seventh class in her village school and later joined the Government ST residential school and college in Yellareddypet mandal.

In tenth class, she scored 454 marks and in Intermediate, secured 662 marks with the teachers’ encouragement. It was the teachers who motivated her to write the Eamcet and accordingly, she secured rank and got free seat in a private college. Incidentally, she did not attend the engineering counselling during the first phase because of financial constraints and illiteracy of parents.

Counselling programme

It was the villagers who forced her to attend the second phase of counselling programme. Accordingly, she secured her preferred ECE group in a private college in Hyderabad. But she did not have money to pay the admission fee, stay in the hostel and purchase books to pursue her engineering course.

Her parents Pocham and Devamma are agricultural labourers working in the fields. She has one elder brother, who also turned into a labourer after his ninth class and younger sister, who stopped studies after seventh class. She is the only girl from their entire primitive tribal community to study hard and secure engineering seat.

Pittala Nagalaxmi told The Hindu that she would pursue her education if the Government or philanthropists provide her necessary assistance. “I have a dream to complete my engineering course and do something for my community wh o are living in abject poverty in small huts on the outskirts of the village without any basic amenities,” she pointed out.

She said that she would be forced to stop her education if she did not pay her admission and other fees before September 10. Presently, I am earning only Rs. 20 per day by working in the agricultural fields along with my parents, she noted.

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