IDUKKI: The Muthuvan tribal community of Idukki could not be happier. One of their sons, Chinnaraj K, has made them proud by becoming the first engineering graduate from their settlement at Samiyaralakudi in Vattavada panchayat.
The journey was anything but easy for the 26-year-old youth, one of the eight children of the late Karunan and Amutha. “I lost my father five years ago. My mother somehow managed to marry off my three sisters. We survive on the meagre income we make from farming,” said Chinnaraj, who also has four brothers all of whom are engaged in farming and cultivation.
“Since my brothers worked in the fields, I wanted to study and get a job so that I could take care of my mother,” he said. There were other problems too, like the lack of a tarred road. There was also no mobile connectivity until six months ago, which made attending classes during the Covid pandemic an arduous task.
His tutors would send him recorded videos of online classes which he would download by going out of his settlement to a place with better coverage. However, through sheer perseverance and immense belief in himself, Chinnaraj earned a civil engineering degree from Government Engineering College, Kannur, becoming an example for the youngsters in his community.
Youth planning to get job, support his family
“The absence of roads is the biggest issue faced by many tribal students in the area. We have to hire jeeps every day to move in and out of the settlement,” he said.Chinnaraj completed SSLC from Model Residential School in Munnar with 70 per cent marks and higher secondary from St Thomas HSS, Keezhillam in Kochi, with 75 per cent.
Now, Chinnaraj is planning to get a job and support his family.“I have no plans to go for higher studies. I have applied for an accredited engineer’s post at Vattavada panchayat. Since it is a temporary gig, I also looking for better job opportunities in civil engineering field,” he said.