Odisha guest lecturer works as a porter to educate poor kids

Berhampur: An guest lecturer in Odisha's Ganjam district is moonlighting as a porter at Berhampur railway station to educate underprivileged children.

31-year-old Ch Nageshu Patro runs a coaching centre to teach poor kids for free and uses the money from his porter gig to pay the salary of teachers. He is also working at a private college in the city as a guest faculty for Rs 8,000.

He told PTI that he started teaching poor kids for free during the Covid pandemic. The number of students seeking education increased and he set up the coaching centre for students in classes 8-12. He is in charge of Hindi and Odia. But he had to hire teachers for other subjects.

Patro now pays four teachers around Rs 10,000-12,000. He says he doesn't care what people think and is not ashamed of working as a porter. "I love teaching and want to continue for poor students."

The young teacher comes from a humble background and struggled with education. His father used to graze goats and had a tough time making both ends meet. Patro found education to be a distant dream and now wants to help children who want to study.