She had become a face of the movement 'Amrai Parbo' (We can do it) against child marriage, which began on January 6, 2017
An 18-year-old girl, Astami Roy, from Purulia district who was earlier in news when she resisted her forced marriage at 16, has now been compelled to quit studies in the second year of her college. All because she could not get her money under the Kanyashree scheme, Mamata Banerjee's pet project for the welfare of girls.
She had become a face of the movement 'Amrai Parbo' (We can do it) against child marriage, which began on January 6, 2017.
Hailing from a BPL family, Astami Roy is the eldest of the five daughters of her family. Her father was a daily wage earner. She had passed Class XII from Barasrini Nandalal High School with 54 per cent marks and had to face formidable problem getting admitted to Raghunathpur College.
"I didn't have enough money to get admission. Child activist and member of Sara Bangla Sishu Surakha Samity, Dipak Bandopadhyay helped me out and got financial help from the Rotary Club for my admission and books. I started pursuing my degree course in Arts. Later my father passed away and we were in deep trouble. I thought I will get the Kanyashree money and it will be of some help but that never happened," Astami told DNA.
As per the provisions of the welfare scheme of the state government, once she has enrolled for the Kanyashree project she would get Rs 750 per annum and after she completes 18 years, if she is not married, she would get Rs 25,000.
Thanks to some unknown technicalities, the money never got credited to her account and now, trying to fend for her family she is looking for a job. "What option do I have? I see my mother go out to work at someone's farmland to feed us. I have four younger sisters and the youngest one is five years old," Astami added.
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