Rourkela: Although many people help persons with disabilities (PwD) do something extraordinary in their lives, there are some who excel in their chosen disciplines all by themselves and become role model for others.
A case in point is 30-year-old physically challenged Batakrushna Nayak, son of Baikuntha Kumar Nayak of Kalinga Vihar in this city.
Though Batakrushna became lame when he was all of six months old, his perseverance and hard work stood him in good stead. Apart from becoming self employed, he has been helping others to earn for themselves.
Polio restricted the mobility of this B-Tech student of the National Institute of Technology. His legs stopped completely functioning.
Despite this he was extremely sharp in his studies. After clearing HSC examination, Batakrushna went ahead to pass Plus II Science from Panposh Government College.
“I have to cover a stretch of five kilometer in my tri-cycle daily to attend classes,” he said.
With a goal to become an engineer, he worked hard and managed to get a seat in NIT-Rourkela. He also got a couple of job offers from Delhi and Mumbai-based companies during campus selection. However, a self-made person, Batakrushna preferred to become self-employed to running after jobs.
To begin with, he asked for some money from his father and started Krishna Technology, a small business related to computer sales and service at JJ Market of Chhend Colony. With his efforts, he managed to get a data entry assignment from a government department and recruited about 70 local jobless youths to execute the order.
With the profit, Batakrushna expanded his activities and opened two more units of his firm at Fertilizer Town Ship and Deogaon.
“I often took help of my friends and moved in my tri-cycle to do sundry jobs,” he said. Batakrushna takes pride in providing employment to 20-odd youths of the area in his organisations.
“Batakrushna is like our elder brother and because of him we are making something to run our families,” three of his employees Srikant Jena, Abhimanyu Dusaar, and Sanjay Mishra said. Apart from computer sales and service, Batakrushna has floated an organisation named ‘Astitwa’ to encourage PwDs like him to join the mainstream.
He believes persons with disabilities should work hard to become self-reliant instead of seeking sympathy of others. PNN
