Odisha student sells mahua to buy smartphone for online classes

Seema Madkami, a 15-year-old girl from Odisha's Malkahngiri district, bought her first smartphone to attend online class after selling Mahua over a month.

With schools continuing to remain shut due to Covid-19 restrictions in most states, the digital shift of classrooms is proving to be a bane for students in rural and tribal areas of Odisha due to lack of access to smartphones. Seema Madkami, a Class 10 student at Sitaguda govt SSD Girls’ school, was unable to attend online classes like many of her peers due to financial constraints. Her farmer father's meagre earnings from less than an acre of land in their native S Tandapally village, Malkangiri block, were insufficient to buy a smartphone.