In a heart-warming incident, a 15-year-old boy who was forced to sell tea at Hyderabad’s Banjara Hills Road number 10 is attending school in the city, thanks to the intervention of Telangana IT and MAUD Minister KT Rama Rao.
It was in December that a Twitter user, Riyazuddin, tweeted to the minister highlighting the case of Sami, who was selling tea near City Centre Mall.
Sami’s father, Aziz, was unable to pay his fees, following which the boy was forced to discontinue his studies.
When the minister noted the plight of the boy, he tweeted, “We will get him into a school.” He also asked his office to “reach out and make sure he gets into one.”
It appears that the minister’s office swung into action soon.
Aziz said that he received a phone call from the minister’s office on the same day, and they asked him for the child’s details.
At the time, Aziz told TNM, “He is a very bright student and we did not want this for him. We are completely broke and we are touched by the minister’s gesture. We will ensure that Sami stays in school if we just get a little help in getting him admission.”
Confirming the same to TNM, KTR’s office said that since then Sami has been given admission at the state Minority Residential School at Asif Nagar.
The Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS) and Telangana Minorities Residential Educational Institutions Society (TMREIS) manage and run educational institutes that cater to the poorest of the poor in the state. In TMREIS schools, 75% of the seats are reserved for minorities, and students can pick between Urdu, Telugu and English as their first language.
Speaking to TNM, Sami’s mother, Farheen, said, “We did not even spend a single rupee. They have arranged everything, from taking care of the admission process to providing the uniform, books, bag, shoes and other things that are required. We are very grateful.”
“He joined on January 1 and on January 5 he fell sick, so we got him back home. After the Sankranti holidays, he will be going back to school,” she added.