How these Karkala siblings fought poverty, disability to clear PU Board exams

Manjunath K | coastaldigest.com
May 4, 2018

Fighting the odds of disability and poverty, Prajwal and Pratheeksha, the siblings from Borgalgudde in Nitte village of Karkala in Udupi district on April 30 cleared the Pre-University exam. While the 22-year-old Prajwal and 19-year-old Pratheeksha secured 51% and 49% respectively in the arts stream, they claimed disappointment that they could not secure 70 per cent similar to their matriculation results.

"They have passed their test that is a big achievement for all of us. First class, second class does not matter, my children cleared the test, they can pursuit their dreams now," Shekar Salian, their father said with a sense of relief.

For over two-days now, Prajwal and Pratheeksha who are generally reserved and shy are quite overwhelmed by the repeated calls and congratulatory messages from relatives and friends. The siblings who since childhood are unable to walk due to a genetic disorder generally stay at home and have limited interaction with outsiders. So you see, it takes more time for them to interact with people, their 47-year old father adds. The duo simply shy away while being talked for interview by this reporter.

For these home-tutored pupils, it was not just the 'test' that came with challenges, but the whole concept of adapting to the examination environment. So the siblings claimed that they were intimidated by the presence of so many other children, besides invigilation squad, and stringent environment.

Prajwal and Pratheeksha had to discontinue their regular schooling from 8th standard, as their parents could not arrange for their transport. "We could not afford those things. Few years ago I had to quit my job due to health and my wife Jyothi Salian rolls beedis. Since our financial condition is a bit tough, we are trying to make ends meet," the 47-year old Salian said. For the last several years, these students are being taught at home by teachers Ganesh, Akshatha and Rajani for seven-hours a day.

While Ganesh taught Economics, English and Political Science, Akshata and Rajani taught Kannada, History and other subjects. The teachers give prominence to writing than the oral.

This year at the PU board, things took a critical turn for Prajwal and Pratheeksha, after the examination department disallowed Prajwal and Pratheeksha to be accompanied by the ‘Assistance writers’ of their choice. "We don't blame the system. But during the matriculation their regular tutors were allowed to write for them. But this time the PU board was stringent with condition. Our plea that the kids have communication issue with new people, especially Prajwal - who stammers, did not gain any us favor," Salian said. Moreover, the PU board had laid an additional rider that the 'assistants' must be at-least a year junior in their academics and they cannot be from Arts background.

The family had a tough time looking for the right candidates, as most of the students had just finished their own exam and were fatigued. The parents wandered to several colleges and their relatives but their requests were turned-down or faced a dead-end.

Highlighting the plight of the family Suvarna News 24/7, a Kannada TV channel, even relayed a public appeal, even local government represented the family but the Board did not change the rules. Finally, two students a boy and a Muslim girl from the neighbourhood agreed. "To avoid confusion, we initially told the family that besides giving them best wishes we won’t be able to financially compensate them," Jyothi says.

For over a week, the children about an hour spend an hour each with Prajwal and Pratheeksha to understand their language and expression. Ultimately, things sailed smoothly for the candidates in the test

While the children will continue to pursuit degree education in Arts stream, the family is looking for physiotherapy and other treatment to enable them to live their life independently. "Both our children are highly intelligent and we are certain that they can do something in life. But we do not want them to be confined to a wheel-chair for the rest of their life, for which we are making our best effort.

In a heart-warming gesture the local community in Borgalgudde have raised a sum of Rs 11 lakh through Samaritans and friends from social media for the future of these children. "Most of them tell me that I should enroll them in computer courses, so that they can be self-sustainable. Let’s see, what my kids want," Jyothi says.

Comments

Abdul Rahman
 - 
Thursday, 10 May 2018

Well Done Really Great Thousands of Congratulations Keep it up

Abdul Rahman
 - 
Thursday, 10 May 2018

Weldone Really great!!!!  Thousands of Congratulation.

Mohammed zahoor
 - 
Sunday, 6 May 2018

congrats.. well done...all the best

ABDUL JALEEL
 - 
Saturday, 5 May 2018

God bless you and guide you

 

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News Network
March 26,2020

New Delhi, Mar 26: While the humans are on lockdown and spending time with their families, animals are free and without any fear roaming around on the otherwise busy roads. From Malabar civets to large Indian bisons, animals are enjoying this time.

Indian Forest Officer Susanta Nanda recently shared a video with the caption, "Indian bison( the gaur) goes for a street walk. The largest extant Bovine, is native to South and Southeast Asia. It can be very aggressive. Rare to see in markets."

The 8-second video shows the large animal freely walking in the market area of Chikmagalur district, Karnataka, while the few onlookers on the road get aside and watch the Bison with utmost amazement.

The videos of animals having a gala time on the roads have become common. After the video was posted online, it became a hit. The clip garnered over 3.1k views and over 100 retweets.

Twitter is amazed at the video. Have a look at the comments.

One user wrote, "Oh! We should vacate this place for them. Guess humans have stayed for too long."

Another Twitter user wrote, "That’s one thing people would follow social distancing with!"

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coastaldigest.com news network
August 4,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 4: As the stage is set for the ground-breaking ceremony for Ram temple construction at Ayodhya on Wednesday, retired Supreme Court judge N Santosh Hegde has called for the promotion of religious harmony and peaceful coexistence and respect for different faiths.

"It is a good idea to make that as an object of the temple so that there can be peace in the world," the former Solicitor General of India said when asked if the temple should be promoted as a symbol of national integration, and social and communal harmony.

Hegde said one of the most dangerous things for conflict today is religion. "In that background, there should be some effort from somebody or other to bring about peaceful coexistence, respecting each religion," the former Karnataka Lokayukta told PTI on Tuesday. "It is a good idea to start Bhumi Pujan as an indicator of that or foundation for developing harmony among various religions," he added.

The Supreme Court had in November last year paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple by a Trust at the disputed site of the Babri Masjid's demolition in Ayodhya. It also directed the Centre to allot an alternative 5- acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a "prominent" place in the holy town in Uttar Pradesh. The Uttar Pradesh government has allotted a five-acre land in Dhannipur village in Sohaval Tehsil of Ayodhya for the mosque's construction.

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News Network
January 18,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 18: Amidst the ongoing probe into the multi-billion IMA ponzi scam, another similar scam has come to light in the city wherein around 2500 depositors, most of them Muslims, are fearing that them may lose Rs 350 crore.

Shockingly, Shafiullah, Rafiullah, and Zabiullah, three brothers who run the Baraka Investment Consultant Private Limited, have accused the police of taking over 10 crore rupees bribe from them.

The depositors say that when they recently demanded their investments back from the accused the trio, they allegedly told them that they had paid the Central Crime Branch (CCB) and the RT Nagar police over 10 crores and they could collect that money from the police.

The aggrieved investors alleges that the RT Nagar police have charge-sheeted the three accused only on the complaints of 13 affected depositors who lost precisely Rs 97 lakh and the case is being probed under the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978 instead of Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Institutions Act, 2004 (KPID Act) or the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Ordinance, 2019 (BUDS) Ordinance.

Aggrieved victims alleged that when the Baraka Investment Consultants had a Registration Certificate of Establishments from Department of Labour issued on November 28, 2017. The CCB took up a suo-motu case against Tellnet Computers on August 16, 2018, after they received complaints from Baraka investors.

Apparently, the CCB knew that Baraka Investment Consultants and Tellnet Computers was one and the same and operating from the same office, but they did not mention the name of Baraka in the case initially for reasons best known to them, said the victims of the Ponzi scheme. A few victims who wished to remain anonymous told BM that a CCB police inspector and one of the accused, Zabiullah, were childhood friends, neighbours and both hailed from Chikkaballapur. This is one of the reasons, they allege, the inspector has protected the accused by downplaying the scam.

The case registered by the CCB states that there are only 500 to 600 depositors who deposited amounts between Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh expecting returns ranging from Rs 5000 to Rs 7000 a month, but in reality there are more than 2500 investors who have deposited amounts ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 50 lakh, expecting returns between 12% to 24%, said the victims. Despite this, the CCB was sitting on the case and making no investigations, the victims alleged.

It was later on in May 9, 2019, an FIR was registered by the RT Nagar police when many victims approached the police commissioner and petitioned him. “Even in this case, the accused Zabiullah was not arrested. Zabiullah’s two brothers, Shafiullah and Rafiullah, and his father Abdul Rahman were arrested, but were later granted conditional bails,” one of the victims Mohammed Yahya (42), a software engineer said.

Yahya had invested Rs 10 lakh with Baraka. “Though this case has been charge-sheeted, the police have not made any recoveries or they have not confiscated any properties of the accused,” alleged victim Habibur Rehman (42) who had invested Rs 5 lakh in Baraka. “There is clear-cut evidence that the accused was dealing in foreign exchange using the investors’ money without their knowledge and was offshoring and parking crores and crores in countries like Russia, Dubai, Malaysia, and Singapore. Though the police knew about this, they did nothing to stop it or bring it back,” said Azgar Pasha (44), a businessman who had invested Rs 41 lakh.

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