Bhubaneswar, Jan. 17: A group of young engineering students have come together to sensitise poor families on Right to Education, under which 25 per cent seats in private schools are reserved for children from underprivileged backgrounds.

To meet the expenses of their endeavour, the students are manufacturing their own merchandise - notebooks - that are sold to various institutes.

"We source the paper and design the notebooks. Around 4,000 copies branded 'I_desire' were sold last session. This helped us make the money to sponsor the educational requirements of some needy students," said Soumik Ghoshal, who is part of the group.

The students have also been collecting used books from college students and exchanging them for school books that are then distributed along with other stationery items, free of cost, to the selected meritorious students.

Under the aegis of Desire Foundation, the students are now trying to spread awareness on section 12(1) (C) of the RTE Act, which allows 25 per cent of students free elementary education in private schools.

"We are facing a lot of problems in implementing it because school authorities as well as government officials are not cooperating. No one is ready to discuss the subject. Reputable private schools in Bhubaneswar are not even ready to talk about RTE admissions. If this is the way they behave with educated youth, one can imagine how they would interact with poor parents and students who go to them for admissions. This is very discouraging," said Pratyasha, a student.

But the group is not giving up. They have surveyed around 150 families in three different slums of the city and identified children eligible for the benefit under the act.

"We are working to make sure all the eligible families posses proper documents to get the benefit. But many of them do not have the required papers," said Pallavi, another student member of the group.

The merchandise developed by the students is becoming increasingly popular among college students.

"We are close to 100 students working 365 days a year with a common goal. We have teams responsible for different departments," said Subham, a team member.