Renuka Sumitra Kamble is a 23 years old from Bekkeri, a small village in the Belgaum district of Karnataka. Her mother was a devadasi when the system was still present a decade ago and has not received any formal education. The story behind this is that she has been the target of an age-old traditional cycle which involved dalit girl-children being forced by their parents to dedicate their lives to the deities in local temples. This rendered them unable to finish their school or compete for other jobs and also had a socially scarring impact. When the devadasi system was put to an end by the government, they lost the only source of income to the family. But, her mother Sumitra was very stubborn and hell bent on making sure that her daughter will never have to face the same plight as she did and so, started working as a daily wage labourer. She would toil in the fields all day for Rs. 70. With this meagre income, they would barely get by. But, her mother made sure that Renuka stayed in school. It was her mother’s dream to see her graduate and pursue a respectable career.

Renuka, wanting to fulfil her mother’s dream, is pursuing M.Com from the Arts and Commerce college in Raibag. The fees for the course is Rs. 60,000. The first year of the course has almost come to an end and the scholarship she was supposed to receive never came. The semester exams are in a month and Renuka will not be allowed to attend them if she does not pay the fee.

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