“I hail from a village in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district. My father was a toddy tapper. I studied till 10th, helped on our farmland, and moved to Hyderabad to prepare for EAMCET. I wanted to become a civil engineer, but I didn’t get the score I hoped for. I joined BSc instead.

Around the same time, our family went through a financial crisis. I started working part-time to support my education. In my first year of college, I lost my father. I had to pause my studies and take up full-time work.

After a few years, I returned, completed my BA, and pursued a Master of Social Work. That course gave me clarity. During my internship, I worked with an organisation focused on peace-building and family systems. I saw women facing abuse, children left behind, and families under pressure. It taught me that social work isn’t just about helping. It’s about standing with people when they have no one else.

I also studied Journalism to help amplify unheard voices.

Along with six friends from fields like agriculture, health, technology, and design, I co-founded the Integrated Rural Development Organisation (IRDO). Though we all have full-time jobs, we’ve worked extensively across Ranga Reddy, Mahabubnagar, and Chennai. In Ranga Nayakula Colony near Hayathnagar, which has nearly 10,000 people, we’ve worked on women’s empowerment, primary healthcare, skill development, and access to education.

We’ve rescued children as young as 9 or 10 from labour, many brought by migrant families from Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and nearby villages. Despite resistance from businessmen and political figures, we helped enrol them in schools with police and Labour Department support.

We’ve worked with women forced into sex work due to poverty or abandonment. Many are single mothers. Some rescue operations were dangerous. We faced threats and physical attacks, but with support from the police, we helped move them to shelter homes where they received safety, training, and a new start.

We’ve supported 860 TB patients, brought 300 children back to school, provided nutrition to 650 students, helped 60 with scholarships, and planted over 300 trees in different communities.

I once wanted to be a civil engineer. But I became a social engineer instead. And in that, I found a sense of fulfilment I never imagined.”

• Ventakesh Goud, Social Worker