A Story Of Nanhikali Guleshwari Panika

A balsarpanch and one of the toppers in the class V board examination in Chhattisgarh, Guleshwari Panika, who hails from Putterwahi village in Kanker district, is one industrious girl who through sheer hard work has prevailed over the challenges posed by the poor economic condition of her family.

Guleshwari comes from a poor six member agricultural family, which includes Guleshwari’s father Shravan Ram Panika, her mother Puspa Bai and her younger brother who is in class III. Guleshwari’s father, who is the only earning member of the family, is a farmer who earns a meagre income due in part to the hilly terrain, which makes farming difficult. Though both Guleshwari’s father and mother, who themselves have received education till class X and class V respectively, have always wanted to secure good education for their children but their precarious economic situation made it difficult for them to accomplish this.

Then thanks to the support provided by the Nanhi Kali project, this became possible. The Nanhi Kali project, which aims at providing 10 years of quality education to girls from economically disadvantaged backgrounds by giving academic, material and moral support, took Guleshwari into its fold and the latter utilised this to the fullest extent. Guleshwari attends classes regularly (she has attended 90% of the classes) and works enthusiastically which is reflected in the results she has achieved. She scored around 98% in her class V board exam and was one of the toppers in her district and significantly she is determined to continue her good performance in the future as well. Apart from academics, she is also an active participant in the ‘bal panchayat’ and is currently the ‘bal sarpanch’.

Her teachers are full of praise for this Nanhi Kali. One of them said, “Guleswari is a very promising student. She always maintains discipline be it in the classroom or the Academic Support Centre. She is respectful towards her teachers and elders and is quite friendly with her classmates”. She continued, “Guleshwari got this opportunity to continue her studies thanks to her supportive parents and the Nanhi Kali project. I hope she continues her studies and keeps up the good work that she’s doing”.

The parents of the Nanhi Kali too are determined to educate their daughter and appreciate the role played by the Project Nanhi Kali in helping them to achieve their dream.“The material support provided by the Nanhi kali project helped a lot in reducing the financial burden related to education and the tuition classes have helped her [Guleshwari] in securing good marks” they remarked.

Guleshwari on her part wants to acquire a master’s degree and become a teacher.

We express our deepest appreciation for the hard work put in by this Nanhi Kali and wish her luck for all her future endeavors.