Disability no obstacle for this 29-year-old youth

Naina Mishra
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 2

On the occasion of International Day of Disabled Persons (December 3), let’s recount how 29-year-old Ganesh Sharma has been striving hard to give flight to his aspirations despite all odds. Sharma, who is physically handicapped by birth, got enrolled in the Masters of Public Administration today through distance learning programme.

He can only crawl with his legs that lie motionless. Sharma says he cannot feel any sensation in the lower body. At the age of two, his condition deteriorated when he developed a non-healing ulcer on his left thigh. He would have never thought of completing his education until one day he read about a Central scheme, ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’, which aims at inclusive education.

“One day, I read about the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in a newspaper column and it drove me to study. I read that young adults were completing Class V and so I wanted to study too. At 16, I decided to complete my Class V. I studied for two months and cleared my exams,” Sharma said.

Sharma did not stop and gained impetus from this day forward. In 2007, the Chandigarh Education Department arranged a private tutor for him to help with the studies. With the help of a home tutor, Sharma has been able to complete matric, post-matric and graduation. Now, he is pursuing post-graduation.

He aspires to be an IAS officer. When asked the reason behind the aim, he shares: “I have never been to a school all my life. No matter how much I wanted to do schooling, I wasn’t able to. My circumstances did not allow as my mother passed away 10 years ago. Even when she was alive, she could not help me. My father has turned 83. I want to help all children like me who wish to study as I have been rejected a couple of times.”