Bolangir: Eight months ago, Ananta had hoped that finally after years of struggle, it was a time to fulfill his father’s dream. Even though he could not find a job in Odisha, his qualifications as an engineer helped him secure employment outside.
But now the world seems to have turned upside down for him. Ananta Beuria is now working as labourer alongside his father.
A resident of Jurlakani area under Deogaon block of Bolangir district, Ananta is the eldest of 5 siblings. Despite utter financial hardship, Baisakhu, his father always ensured that Ananta should study engineering and earn a good living for the family.
But unfortunately, even after qualifying B.Tech in Civil Engineering in 2018, Ananta could not land job in Odisha. To make good all the years of hard work and sacrifice of his family, Ananta moved outside and worked at a private engineering firm.
Everything seemed right until the COVID19 pandemic struck. The Coronavirus curbs not only snatched away Ananta’s precious source of livelihood, but also forced him to return to Odisha.
After months of sitting idle due to lack of satisfactory employment opportunities despite the government’s tall promises of initiatives for skilled labour force, Ananta decided to work with his father as a labourer under the MGNREGA project in his village.
But a turn in the wheel of fortune gave a new lease of hope to Ananta and his family when Bolangir Collector Chanchal Rana came to know about him when he visited the site of MGNREGA project in Jurlakani.
Invited by Rana, both Ananta and his father visited the collectorate today and narrated their ordeal.
After discussions, the collector has assured Ananta to make arrangements for providing livelihood support that commensurates his skills till he finds a new job after the Covid crisis.