This is the story of young Manish Kumar coming from the state of Bihar. Manish comes from a low socio-economic background and was born into a scheduled caste family. His father remarried as his mother passed away, making him a semi orphan. The expenditure and cost of living to sustain four sons became a burden for his father and being desperately in need of money, he was forced to sell two of his sons. Manish’s uncle who was also engaged in masonry and construction was very concerned for the boy, as he knew that at a very young age Manish was curious about learning and wanted to gain knowledge of new areas.
But the situation Manish was in forced him to engage in masonry and construction work. The more they worked the more they were paid. His uncle, being concerned for his future, approached BJUP and informed them about the situation in the house. BJUP is an organisation that works for community development in the areas of health and education. The organisation also serves as a shelter home for children. Currently, Manish is also being taken care of by the organisation. He stays and learns at the shelter home. For the last 4 years, he has been learning under eVidyaloka’s Digital School program. He is now in the 8th grade and is pursuing his dream of gaining knowledge with the help and support of eVidyaloka and the Digital School Partner (DSP) BJUP.
At a young age, Manish had to give up on his dream to survive, he was forced to work instead of studying, playing, laughing, and enjoying his childhood. Here we see the violation of the Right to Education. We have seen that children were sold to sustain the family. Article 21 A in the Indian Constitution states that free and compulsory education should be provided to all children in the age group of six to fourteen years. eVidyaloka is contributing to achieve this goal in these areas.