Schoolchildren at the felicitation ceremony conducted by Sanskritik Parishad at Balkrishna School in Ranchi on Friday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, June 20: Their power to dream was virtually cut short by their family income. But hopes of pursuing higher studies was kept alive by the small contribution made by a city group today.

Five students from families belonging to weaker income groups were felicitated at Sanskritik Parishad. They were given scholarships from the body that forms a congregation of the members from the Chitransh community.

The children, of varying age groups, were given cheques worth Rs 500. Among those, who received scholarships were Rishab Mallick a Class II student, Akhilesh Kumar Dutt, belonging to Class VI, Neeraj Kumar Das of Class VIII, Roshni Kumari of Class X and Atul Kumar who gave his Intermediate examination this year.

Atul dreams of becoming an engineer. But all his hopes turn into despair when he recalls the financial condition of his family.

“I have five members in my family. This scholarship will definitely help me but seeing the expenses involved in higher studies, this is like a drop in the ocean,” he said.

Others also had similar tales to narrate. Roshni is now studying in Class X but is not sure whether she would be able to take her board exams in 2009. Roshni’s father, Ramshankar Prasad, has four daughters. He worked with some NGOs in Bihar but unable to support his family with the meagre income, he quit his job in search of better opportunities.

Professor R.A.K. Verma of ISM, Pundag, was the chief guest on the occasion and said: “These students are very hard-working and it is nothing but sheer determination that propels them forward. So the society needs to come out in their support. Each one of us can contribute in our own little way so that they can continue with their studies.”

P.K. Sinha, the professor in charge of Ranchi College and a faculty of the chemistry department, who was the special guest on the occasion, took the first step in this direction. He volunteered to provide guidance to all students who needed help with their studies.

Sanskritik Parishad is giving scholarships to such students since 1993. District chairman, Shivnath Das had taken the initiative then.

The present district chairman Satyendra Mallick said the Parishad also arranges marriages of girls hailing from poor families. But in the past 10 years only six marriages have been arranged so far.