Twenty three-year-old Rohit, once a migrant child labourer, is now a jawan of Bihar Military Police (BMP).

In 2012, Rohit passed his matriculation exam from a school in Belatandi, East Champaran, his home district. Like any other student, he nurtured dreams of continuing studies and making it big in his life. However, trapped in the vicious circle of poverty, he was compelled to migrate to Gujarat as a labourer to aid his family’s income.

Today, having cleared written and endurance tests for BMP, he is undergoing training at an academy in Bhagalpur.

During one of his visits back home, Rohit came in contact with one Bhupinder, a social activist associated with NGO Deep, which works in the field of eliminating child labour. Bhupinder was moved by Rohit’s desire to continue studies.

Bhupinder convinced Rohit’s parents — his father is a rickshaw puller in Nepal and mother a homemaker — about the long term benefits of Rohit’s higher education. “Besides me, several regional political leaders also met his family and convinced how higher education was important for better employment opportunities in future. Convinced, the family called Rohit back from Gujarat and enrolled him in a college.”

After four years of passing matric exam, Rohit appeared for intermediate exam in 2016. Meanwhile, he also wrote some competitive exams and cleared both written and physical test conducted by BMP. Last year in July, Rohit received the appointment letter, leaving his parents and well wishers overwhelmed.

“I feel blessed that right people on right time intervened and saved my future,” he says.

First Published: Jun 12, 2019 14:43 IST