Class 12 topper of Chhattisgarh has to sell vegetables for a living
BALOD(CHHATTISGARH): Dhavendra Kumar is no ordinary vegetable vendor. The 17-year-old who sells vegetables with his mother at the local market of Balod district’s Laundi village is also Chhattisgarh’s topper in this year’s class 12 state board examination.
Kumar scored 98.6%, coming first among 3.95 lakh students who took the examination, results of which were declared in April.
But Kumar’s joy has been short-lived. His family has no money and the boy has just returned dejected from the coaching hub of Rajasthan’s Kota after failing to rustle up the annual average fee of ~1.3 lakh for admission in a tutorial to pursue his dream of getting into an IIT.
According to him, the Balod district administration had assured him financial help for further studies.
But the promises have not translated into money yet. “I went to Kota but had to return,” lamented Kumar.
A student of the Government High School in Pondi, some distance away from his village, Kumar has turned bitter. “I think that the government has no respect for toppers,” he told HT, in between selling ladies finger and brinjal by the roadside.
His mother is equally heartbroken. “My son secured 90% in class 10 and is now topper of class 12, but no one is helping us. We have only two acres of land and we cannot afford fees for his coaching where he wants to study,” she said.