Determined To Help The Under Privileged, Odisha Guest Lecturer Moonlights As Porter For Education Of Poor Kids

Besides working as a guest lecturer at a private college in Odisha, 31-year-old Nageshu Patro also runs a coaching centre for poor students for free. However, his salary as a guest lecturer doesn't suffice to pay the salaries of the teachers he has hired in his coaching centre.

In a bid to not give up on the facility that helps the less privileged, Nageshu also works as a porter at Berhampur, also known as Bramhapur, railway station at night.

Worked As Porter To Finance His Education

Hailing from Odisha's Ganjam district, Nageshu comes from a very modest financial background. His father used to graze goats and sheep, and hence, making both ends meet was a struggle. Nageshu realised that education was a distant dream for him when he could not appear in the 2006 high school certificate (HSC) examination due to his family's financial restraints.

Not wanting any other child to be deprived of the education they deserve due to unstable monetary backgrounds, he decided to help as many children as he possibly could.

In 2011, Nageshu registered himself as a porter with the Indian Railway. Investing the money he earned as a porter in his education, he appeared for the Class 12 examination in 2012 through a correspondence course and passed. He didn't stop her; he did his graduation and post-graduation from Berhampur University to make himself capable of helping others with their education.

'Want To Continue Teaching For Poor Students'

When the pandemic hit and the lockdown phases followed, it put a burden on everyone's wallets. Patro, in a report by The Times of India, said instead of staying home and doing nothing during the COVID outbreak, he started giving free lessons to underprivileged kids. He started a coaching facility for students in classes 8 through 12 as enrolment grew. Additionally, he hired teachers for the other subjects, while continuing to teach Hindi and Odia himself.

Patro currently has four teachers working for him at his coaching centre, and he pays them a monthly salary of roughly Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000. He pays the salary using the money he makes working as a porter at the railway station. Working as a guest lecturer, he earns Rs 8,000 which he uses for his private expenses and to send money to his parents who stay in Manohar village of Ganjam district.

"Whatever people think, let them think, I love teaching and want to continue for poor students," Patro said when he was asked if he felt ashamed to work as a porter despite being a lecturer himself.

Nageshu adds that since people are preferring trolley bags and escalators to porters or coolies, his earnings have come down significantly. However, he has urged Railway minister Aswini Vaishnaw to help the porter community which works hard at railway stations throughout the day.

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