It is said that there is no obstacle too big for a determined mind. The saying has again been proved right by a very determined Raju Kendre, who has won the prestigious Chevening Scholarship of the British Government under its international education programme. Hailing from the Nomadic Tribes, Raju’s parents - Atmaram and Jijabai - didn’t even receive primary education and earned their livelihood as farmers through a minor land holding. Raju originally comes from Pimpri Khandare village of Lonar taluka in Buldana district. Without any background promoting education, it was Raju Kendre’s determination for learning and opening doors for so many like him that saw him shine at various levels of education. After receiving school education in Marathi from Zilla Parishad School, he graduated from open university and completed post graduation from Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

 

While taking education, he continued rendering social services in different ways. He participated in works of Chief Minister Fellowship, Melghat. Later, he started teaching at Jotirao Social Works College, Yavatmal. During this period, through his Eklavya movement, he started a books collection drive for children of backward communities and collected 30,000 books for libraries in 30 villages of the district. Under the movement he also opened doors of higher education for more and more students who could not afford it due to financial limitations. The Eklavya Academy that he has been running for last three years has seen more than 500 of its students take up education in world-renowned educational institutions. Working his way through educating himself while rendering social work, Raju cultivated a dream of further educating himself in foreign lands.

 

Though he was selected in 19 universities that figured in the list top 200 in global ranking, he could not afford their fees without scholarship. Without losing hope, Raju started efforts for the distinguished Chevening Scholarship. The scholarship is meant for youths with leadership qualities from 160 countries of the world. Out of the 63,000 applicants, only 5,000 qualified for interview and of them only 1,400 were selected for the scholarship. The scholarship, given by Foreign Common Wealth Department, UK, is of Rs 45 lakh. With the money Raju Kendre will be able to take education from any university of the world. After taking degree from a well-known foreign university, Raju Kendre aspires to further strengthen his Eklavya movement to enable many more souls like him dream big and achieve it.