Vinod working on earthmoving machinery

Vinod is the only child of his parents. His parents had been affected by leprosy ever since he could remember. They had to face a lot of discrimination in their village in the state of Jharkhand. Vinod was in his seventh standard when he was diagnosed with leprosy. He was treated at the local government hospital and was cured completely. Leprosy didn’t bother him; he carried on with his life. As a child, he used to tinker with toys, and his curious mind wanted to know how things worked – an engineer was sleeping somewhere inside him, his teachers used to say.

After he passed his 12^th Board exam, Vinod was looking for an opportunity to study his favourite subject – engineering. He came to know about TLMTI’s vocational training centre (VTC) in Champa, Chhattisgarh, where young boys and girls affected by leprosy were offered training in job-oriented technical courses. He applied for a course in diesel mechanics trade and joined the 2016-17 batch. After successfully completing the training programme, he got a job as a service engineer at Jagdish Earthcon Services Pvt Ltd, a wholesale dealer of earthmoving machinery in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, with a decent salary.

He is happy that he can support his parents financially. “My parents are living alone. With no source of income, they find it difficult to keep the family going. Now I’m able to save and send money to my parents. I’m happy that they are living a happy life now. Also, I’m happy that I got training on the subject that I’m passionate about.”