Rayagada: She missed school, but realises the power of knowledge. And, for this, she relentlessly works to arrest the dropout rate in schools.

Dinja Jakesika, 33, who is a woman sarpanch belonging to the Dongria Kondh community, conducts a door-to-door campaign in her panchayat to encourage parents to send their children to school.

"Education is important as it empowers a person. I have never attended school, but I know what wonders education can make in one's life. Hence, I am on a mission to arrest the trend of school dropout," said Dinja, the two-time sarpanch of Kurli panchayat nestled at the foothill of the Niyamgiri hills in Rayagada's Bissamkatak block.

As a child Dinja was unable to go to school, as her father was opposed to her schooling. Her childhood days were albout doing household chores.

However, while working as a cook at the educational complex in Chatikona for nearly five years and before entering politics, she learnt to write her name in Odia.

"During my stint as cook I saw how children of our community dropped out of school for various reasons. So, after being elected as the sarpanch, my first priority was to arrest dropout," she said.

In the past years Dinja's efforts bore result with over 500 children of her panchayat and nearby villages being enrolled into various residential schools, including Kalinga Institute of Social Science, Bhubaneswar.

Unlike most of her counterparts, who rarely participate in government programmes and schemes, Dinja actively takes part in all and every programmes meant for the betterment of the society.

Owing to her sincere efforts, over 400 beneficiaries have been included in the old-age pension scheme and at least 500 families have been provided with houses under various rural housing schemes in the panchayat.

"Due to illiteracy, most of our community members fail to get the benefits of various schemes. Hence, I ensure that not a single beneficiary is left out of social security schemes," said Dinja, who have decided to stay single and serve the society.

Dinja leadership skills have been noticed and she has won several awards at the state and national level. She is also the first woman of her community to obtain a passport. She visited Bali in Indonesia to participate in the International Indigenous Film Festival in January.

Apart from her dedicated service to the cause of education and ensuring that government programmes reached the poor, Dinja also campaigns against social evils, migration of labour and superstitions like sorcery. She also spearheads a movement to save the Niyamgiri hills, which has a large deposit of bauxite, from the clutches of multi-national companies.

"I hold meetings to make people aware about the ill-effects of consuming liquor as she sees it is the main reason for most social tension. As most of people from the area migrates for work and then ends up in misery, I encourage them to work under MGNREGA," she said.

Dinja, who is a popular figure in the area, is considered as a bridge between her community and the government agencies. "For her, development has reached our village. She is our voice and we are proud of her achievements," said Sukri Kadraka of Hunijali.