Bhopal: On Father's Day we not only honour our fathers but also the father figures who helped in shaping our minds and giving wings to our dreams. A 73-year-old man from Bhopal is acting as a guardian for children who are unable to pursue higher students due to financial constraints.
A girl named Jyoti Kelkar, living in a slum in Sant Hirdaram Nagar, wanted to do BTech but her father, who was a mason could not afford it. Five years ago, he met Asudo and since then the latter has been playing the role of Jyoti's foster father. Asudo got Jyoti admitted to a top private institute in Bhopal and the girl is set to complete her BTech course in computer science stream. Similarly, Asudo has fulfilled dreams of 17 such children till now.
After retirement, when people usually spend their lives in rest, Asudo Lachhwani, a resident of Sant Hirdaram Nagar, took upon himself to improve lives of economically weaker sections of the society.
Asudo, lives with his family in a shanty in Sant Hirdaram Nagar said his sole aim is to ensure that no child is deprived of education due to lack of money. With this vision, he has been providing financial help to needy students for pursuing education for the last seven years. The man looks out for poor students who even after scoring over 80% marks in class 10 and 12 boards, are unable to study further. He not only admits them in colleges but guides them to become doctors, engineers and CAs.
Students who were helped by Asudo, are currently earning Rs 1.20 to 3.60 lakh annually. Now, these students in turn, are helping others to fulfill their dreams. Asudo said that till now, five of the children completed CA, seven have become engineers and one got MBBS degree. Mothers of most of these children work as maids.
Asudo's journey started way back in 2016. "I found that the children studying in the free coaching centre, Nav Yuvak Parishad, were unable to study in colleges after passing class 12. We started helping them along with some social workers, organizations and through government schemes. Presently, more than 65 children are provided financial assistance that is helping them to preparing for CS, CA, B.Tech, MBA, BEd, UPSC and MPPSC," Asuda said.
He said that anyone who wants to help these children can contact him on his mobile number 9893809097 and directly help the poor meritorious students.
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Deliberating on the mechanism by which funds are arranged, Asudo said Rs 12,000 annually is given from the youth council, Rs 10,000 from the central sector scholarship, Rs 10,000 through social workers while Sindhi students get scholarship of up to Rs 12,000 from the Indu Singh Foundation. In this manner, a child gets assistance ranging from Rs 32,000 to Rs 44,000 in a year, he said.
Among the students who received financial assistance included a boy named Yogesh, who is now a CA. Yogesh's father works at a shop in Bairagarh and mother irons clothes. Another girl, named Srishti is about to complete her MBBS internship. Her father works at a clothes shop. Lajwanti, who did BTech from JNCT, is now earning an annual package of around Rs 4.50 lakh per annum.
