Pushedby his daughters to pursue education, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Phool SinghMeena, now 62, will finally accomplish his dream to be a BA pass MLA.
Initially,a school dropout, he had to take up farming after his father's death.Officially, he was seventh pass but he somehow managed all his day to daychores in personal and professional life.
However,his life changed when his five daughters made him realise the worth ofeducation and inspired him to continue, explaining to him the fact thateducation has no age limit.
Abidingby their call, Meena on Tuesday took his first exam of BA final in politicalscience stream in Udaipur from the Vardhman Mahaveer Open University.
Hesaid, "I had to drop out from school after Class 7 as my father passedaway and there were many challenges in the family. I got into farming to earnlivelihood for my family.
"WhenI saw, it was not earning me significant returns; I went to Udaipur and startedworking in supplying labour to private factories. Then I entered politics andthere was no looking back," he says.
"Onefine day, my daughters, five in number, gheraoed me and asked me about myqualification.
"Iasked them what was the reason for this question and they said they wanted tohear the right answer from my mouth. As I said I am seventh class pass, theysaid, 'Aren't you ashamed of it? How do you carry yourself amongst people,students and senior leaders?
"Theirwords were a real inspiration for me. Soon they brought me an application formand insisted me to fill it to crack the Class 10 exam. The form was submittedand I appeared for the exam in 2013. It was election time and I got the ticketso I could not clear two exams which I re-appeared and cleared in 2015. Theygave me points so that I can learn from my chapters well," he added.
"ThenI cleared my Class 12 exam in 2016-17. Finally, I was confident and there wasno stopping me as I continued my studies for BA in 2018-19 for first year,2019-20 for second year and 2020-2021 for third year.
"Educationis important along with politics and hence I started studying again after 40years. After BA, I am aiming at completing my PhD too," he said.
Meenais serving his second term as MLA from the Godaoli village, Jahajpur tehsilfrom Bhilwara district.
Hesays his daughters enlightened him about the value of education in one's lifeand hence wants all daughters of his constituency to spread wings.
In2015, soon after becoming MLA, he made an announcement that girls studying inthe government schools securing 80 per cent and above marks will be given achance for air travel. "The policy was implemented in 2016 and many girlsof our constituency have travelled via air and around 35 girls are awaiting nowfor their term due to the Covid challenge," he said.