The Telegraph salutes those who went that extra mile for child rights and little stars fighting odds for a bright future in the year Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their struggle against suppression of young people and for the right of all children to education

EYE ON IIT

Dhananjay Kumar, 18

Son of a small grocery shop owner in Samastipur and a student of Super 30

? Place of stay: Super 30 hostel in Patna

? Education: Class XI

student at AND College,

Shahpur (Samastipur)

? Challenge: Biggest one is money. His father has to support the education of five children with meagre income from grocery shop. Dhananjay cleared Super 30 entrance test one-and-a-half years ago and his real challenge is to crack the IIT entrance test next year

? Extraordinary steps: During his stay in Patna before joining Super 30, Dhananjay used to give tuitions to children to meet his education expenses. He learnt about Super 30 from one of his friends and took the test

? Why he stands out: Despite financial constraints, he is working hard to clear the IIT entrance test so that he can change the living conditions of his family members

? What mentor says: The boy is intelligent, hardworking and despite coming from poor background with no money to even buy books, he has a dream of doing big in life, says Anand Kumar of

Super 30

GREAT TEE-OFF

Aman, 19

Golfer

? Place of stay: Patna

? Education: BA

? Challenge: Initially, it was really difficult for Aman to survive because of lack of competition, proper training and good players in the state. Sponsorship was hard to come by. Golf is among one of the most expensive games

? Extraordinary step: He dropped a year of his regular college for training

? Why he stands out: Winner of NCR Cup, Asia Pacific Amateur Championship, Northern India Amateur Championship and Malaysian Amateur Golf Championship

? What he says: 'I am glad to have been able to make my place in the amateur championship circuit. I am proud to represent my country and state,' says Aman

DOCTOR SAHIBA

Gauhar and Mehar Jahan Begum, 20

Students

? Place of stay: Madhubani

? Education: Medical and engineering students

? Challenge: Their father and two brothers were killed over a land dispute on November 14, 2010. More tragedy followed two months later. A third brother, diagnosed with clinical depression after the attack, died in a road accident

? Extraordinary step: Gauhar scored 64 per cent in her Class XII exams and a year later sat for her pre-medical tests. She cleared the entrance to Lady Hardinge in her third

attempt and was ranked 194. Meher Jahan is studying to be an engineer

? Why they stand out: Even after a financial crunch and personal setbacks, both the sisters have managed to do well in studies

? What they say: 'I remember my father used to address me as Doctor Sahiba when I was still in high school. He bought us bicycles and we became the only girls to own bicycles. But our lives changed after he was killed,' said Gauhar

FLYING WINGS

Tara Khatun, 16

Footballer

? Place of stay: Siwan

? Education: Student of Class X

? Challenge: This forward cycles 6km everyday from her home for training at Mairwa, around 165km northwest of Patna. Tara's father, Sudan Ansari, is a mechanic

? Extraordinary step: This 'left-out' took part in several state and national championships, including sub-junior national school football championship held in Manipur in 2012 and the sub-junior football championship held in Odisha in 2013

? What she says: 'Balancing both sports and studies at a time is very difficult for me. But thank God, so far I have excelled in both the fields,' says Tara

REAL HERO

Chanchal, 22

Acid attack survivor

? Place of stay: Chitwana, Maner

? Education: Class XII

? Challenge: Two boys had been stalking me for months. They used to pass vulgar remarks, pull my chunni and follow me on their motorcycles when I used to go to Danapur for my Plus Two classes and coaching. When I did not respond to their overtures, they turned abusive and threatened to teach me a lesson. They burned my dreams. For me, it was really difficult to face people with the burnt shabby face

? Extraordinary step: She joined 'Stop

Acid Attack Champaign' and is now fighting for justice

? Why she stands out: She is a part of many campaigns and volunteering for acid attack survivors across the country

? What her father says: 'I am glad that she has recovered fully. She is more strong and independent than before. She is my hero,' said Shailesh Paswan

KIDS' CRUSADER

Bipin Kumar, 30

Advocacy, campaign and communications coordinator

? Place of stay: Patna

? Education: Masters in social work

? Challenge: Most of the people here are not aware of child rights. Participation of children is important in everything - from planning to implementation of any project

? Extraordinary step: Mass-level awareness about child labour

? Why he stands out: Compelling political parties to mention child rights in manifestoes

? Beneficiary reaction: 'I was not aware about child labour. I wanted to go to school but was forced by my parents to work at a factory. I was helped by some volunteers to pursue my dreams of becoming a teacher. I go to school now and know how to write my name,' said Raju

of Chajjubag

TEACHER ON STAGE

Suresh Kumar Hazzu, 54

Theatre artiste and government employee

? Place of stay: Khazanchi Road, Patna

? Education: BA, BEd

? Challenge: Generating funds through donation and convincing guardians of slum children to promote them in drama as

well as for pursuing education so that they can

get employment

? Extraordinary steps: Conducting workshop twice a week and teaching the art of drama to slum children while visiting localities such as

Lohanipur, Saidpur, Machuatoli and Sultanganj among others

? Why he stands out: There are very few people who are bothered about slum children and they are looked down upon in society. He believes that they also deserve a good life and good

education and every individual shall contribute to this field

? Beneficiary reaction: 'My life has changed ever since I came in contact with Hazzu sir. He is my godfather now, who is not only teaching me drama but also motivating me to be educated,' said Sudharshan Sharma (13) of Chai Tola

COMPUTER MENTOR

Shweta Swaroop, 35

Computer teacher of CIMP-run Beautiful Mind, a coaching programme for poor slum children

? Place of stay: Patna

? Education: MCA, MSc in

chemistry

? Challenge: Teaching junior as well as senior students computer is a big challenge. Junior students are taught MS Office and basic computer such as Internet and others, while seniors are taught computer languages C, C+ and others

? Extraordinary step: She has taught more than 100 students since the institute's inception in 2008

? Why she stands out: She focuses on development of society through educating children from slums around the city

? Beneficiary reaction: 'By joining Beautiful Mind, I am getting the best education as my guides are mostly students and CIMP teachers and their teaching skills are on a par with

public school tutors,' said Pankaj Kumar, son of a tea-seller

TRAFFICKERS' NIGHTMARE

Shilpi Singh, 30

Director of Bhumika Vihar, anti-trafficking NGO

? Place of stay: Katihar

? Education: MBA with two international

fellowships

? Challenge: To make people aware about anti-trafficking and stop child marriage in the northeastern parts of the state. It was really difficult to tackle traffickers residing inside the villages

? Extraordinary step: With the help of anti-trafficking volunteers, she has rescued more than

100 girls

? Why she stands out: Shilpi rehabilitated more than 80 girls in different villages of northwestern part of Bihar

? Beneficiary reaction: 'I had lost hope of meeting my parents again. Shilpi didi has given me a new life and has educated me for leading a better life,' says Reena (name changed)

EXTRAORDINARY EDUCATOR

Chitralee Bhattacharya, 38

Social activist running a school for children of sex workers in Khushkibagh village of Purnea district since 2007

? Place of stay: Patna

? Education: Commerce graduate. Also have masters degree in human rights from Delhi University and postgraduate diploma in women and child welfare from Magadh Mahila College, Patna University

? Challenge: My team went to the houses of sex workers and spoke to them for hours on the benefits of sending the children to school. Our first batch started with only a few students, who were not even regular to school

? Extraordinary step: The school, opened in 2007 with

only a handful, now boasts of 116 students

? Why she stands out: She has been able to send more than 150 students of her school to the mainstream institutions

? Beneficiary reaction: 'Whenever I used to see any child going to school, I used to wonder was wrong with me, why I have not been given this opportunity. Today, I am a student of Class VIII of a private school,' says Anita Kumari (name changed), who earlier studied in the school run by Chitralee's NGO, Lakshya