Bhattacharjee with Ganga and Arjun at Writers’ Buildings on Thursday. Telegraph picture

Calcutta, Dec. 23: Ganga and Arjun today walked out of the chief minister’s chamber with money to fund their higher education and the promise of help “whenever required”.

Ganga, pursuing an MSc in chemistry from IIT Bombay, and her brother Arjun, a second-year chemistry honours student of Visva Bharati, are the children of rickshaw-puller Sahadeb Haldar. Sahadeb, a resident of Burdwan’s Purbasthali, earns Rs 2,000 a month, which is grossly inadequate to fund his children’s education.

The chief minister, whose office monitors the media round the year to spot such meritorious yet underprivileged students, had called the trio over to his chamber in Writers’ Buildings to offer help.

The chief minister handed a cheque of Rs 20,000 to Ganga, 21, and another of Rs 10,000 to Arjun, 19. “This is just the beginning. We will be there for whatever assistance they need to pursue their higher education,” Bhattacharjee said. He congratulated the siblings for their “triumph over the challenges of poverty”.

Sahadeb said he was finding it hard to bear the expenses of his children’s education. “I had somehow managed to fund their education till now. I had to pay Rs 26,000 for Ganga’s first semester. This year, I needed to arrange for Rs 16,000. On top of that, I would have had to spend around Rs 8,000 on my son’s education. I almost gave up hope. But God had other plans.”

Ganga and Arjun touched the chief minister’s feet and sought his blessings. But when Sahadeb also tried to touch his feet, an embarrassed Bhattacharjee stopped him from doing so and offered him “countless thanks” for bringing up the children “so well”.

After coming out of the chief minister’s chamber, Ganga said she wanted to become a research scholar.