BENGALURU: When Covid-19 struck, 233 children in
Karnataka lost both their parents, data from Karnataka State Commission for Child Rights shows. Over time, 232 of them found homes with their relatives or foster families. Except one.
As the pandemic raged like a wildfire, a Dharwad boy, then 17, was inducted into a govt home for boys in need of care and protection.
TOI tracked down this one Covid orphan who never found a place he could call ‘home’ — not even five years since the scourge started. Quite like a young David Copperfield, forced to grow up fast and chart his own course in the choppy waters called life, this young boy has held his own, battling many a home truth.
Meet
Rakesh Chandrashekar Shetty, who lives in a rented accommodation near his college, and divides his time between the homes of his school friends during holidays. Currently a first-year engineering student at Bengaluru’s Presidency University, Rakesh was in his first year at ITI when Covid struck and left him orphaned overnight.
Originally from Dharwad, he had lost his father when he was 10 and used to live with his mother in a rented house.
Driven by the hope of giving her son a better life, his mother worked tirelessly, taking up whatever came her way — doing the dishes at small eateries, putting in long hours as a security guard, and labouring in the fields as a farm worker.
Covid survivor: Will work hard to achieve my mother’s dreamHer struggle continued until she succumbed to the second wave of Covid in April 2021.
“I was shattered. I, too, contracted Covid and was quarantined for a month after my mother’s death. There were days when I would just sit alone in a rented room for days, unable to think straight,” Rakesh recalled.
Even though Rakesh had relatives, they weren’t willing to take him in. A distant relative initially helped him move to Darshana open shelter, from where he eventually moved to the govt-run Bala Mandir in Dharwad.
“That’s when I realised there are good people too in this world. Bala Mandir became my family. The state child protection department has stood by me ever since,” he pointed out.
Rakesh’s steely resolve saw him weather many a storm as he completed his ITI and went on to join a B Tech programme.
“My mother always wanted to see me successful in life. I will strive towards achieving her dream. I have survived the worst. Now, I’m hardwired for anything that life may throw at me,” said Rakesh, who hopes to join the merchant navy.
Like other Covid orphans, he is paid a monthly stipend of Rs 5,000 under the PM-Cares scheme. He will receive an additional grant of Rs 10 lakh once he turns 23. Fortunately for him, Rakesh doesn’t have to worry about his college fees, with state labour minister Santhosh Lad and Union minister Prahlad Joshi picking up the tab for thim.
When the going gets tough, the tough gets going, there goes the saying. Look no further than the story of this braveheart, who lives those words every waking hour of his life.
Discrepancies in statsAccording to National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), in Karnataka, 573 children lost both their parents in the wake of Covid pandemic. However, figures from Karnataka Children Rights Protection Commission say 233 children lost both their parents, with the highest numbers recorded in Bengaluru Urban (32) and Belgavi (22).
Follow Us On Social Media