Rosy Behera, 20, a civil engineering student in Puri has been working as a daily wager for the last three weeks to pay her college fees. She has been working in a road project under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) near her home so that she can pay her college dues of Rs 24,500 to obtain her diplomatic certificate.

“After completing my diploma in Civil Engineering in 2019, I am not able to arrange funds for my Bachelor’s degree. I also have to pay an outstanding amount of Rs 24,500 to the diploma school,” Behera said.

Belonging from Goradipidha village under Chainpur Panchayat in Puri district of Odisha, she has been carrying mounds of earth on her head as a daily wager instead of putting her civil engineering skills to work.

After acquiring her diploma, Behera said she had enquired with a private engineering college if she could pursue a B.Tech program on a government scholarship. She said that since she belongs to a Scheduled Caste (Harijan), her tuition fees would be borne by the government but she could not afford the hostel and college bus fee.