life could never take a better turn for those orphaned when they were barely able to walk, trapped in abject poverty, leading a life not better than a slave and endure to see the day of socio-economic libration with a life that seemed like a fairy tale if they look back to their past.
The Central Government scheme ‘Roshni ‘— a market-oriented skill development programme — illuminated lives of hundreds of youngsters hailing from left-wing-extremism (lWE) areas.
Rubina Kumari, a 17-year-old girl, lost her father at an age of five, even before she came to senses to realise love of her father, and a year later her mother left for heavenly abode leaving her to the mercy of grandparents and uncles.
Rabina became an orphan at an age of 17 and then her ordeal began as uncles discriminated against her.
However, Rubina’s life changed in 2014 when she was brought to Ranchi by agencies involved in grooming youngsters for oraganised sector.
“I could not complete my studies after matriculation and uncles were not kind to me either. I met people associated with the skill based training programme. They brought me here and taught marketing skills. They have given me a life and now I am confident that I can lead a better life in future,” said Rubina.
Rubina who never thought of coming out of a remote village of Garhwa is now settled in Ranchi and is employed with a retail food chain with presence over half-a-dozen locations in the city.
Notably, ‘Roshni’, a subcomponent of Deen Dayal Upadhyay — Gramin Kaushal Yojna, is being implemented in six districts of Jharkhand — West Singhbhum, Palamu, latehar, Chatra, Garhwa and Gumla — with an objective of luring away youngsters prone to extremism and bring them means of sustenance for a better life.
As many as 21,511 youngsters will be trained under the scheme and Union Rural Development Ministry has earmarked Rs101 crore for Jharkhand to impart training to people of the naxal-affected areas.
Roshni illuminated life of 21-year-old Rajan Kumar Ravi who was misled by job brokers and was employed as a labourer at Delhi.
Ravi had to leave studies at the insistence of his elder brother and head to Delhi to work in a small manufacturing unit but was not given salary.
Worse, brokers had even taken money from Ravi’s elder brother but did not deliver on the promise of providing a better job. Ravi’s journey from Manjhiaon in Garhwa to Delhi pushed in depression and ended when agencies encouraged him to acquire skills for organised sector. Ravi fondly calls agency people “sir” because they made him master of his destiny.
“I hail from a family of labourers. But I wanted a better profile so I came back from Delhi. I was encouraged by sir to join skill development programme. Now I can earn and learn at the same time. All I can say that I have got another life and now I have to make most of it,” maintained Ravi.
Incidentally, as many as 150 youngsters hailing from lWE-affected areas were given job after successfully completing training programme under ‘Roshni’.