Bhubaneswar, Aug. 4 -- For most children, mornings begin with school uniforms, books and classrooms. But for two orphaned siblings in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district, every day starts with a stick in hand and cattle to graze. Without basic identity documents such as an Aadhaar card and birth certificate, the brother and sister have been unable to enrol in school. As a result, education has remained a distant dream while childhood slips away in the grazing fields of Udala block's Urmal village.

Orphaned at a Young Age, Childhood Lost to Hardship

Ten-year-old Gulu Choudhury and her eight-year-old brother Bhaga Choudhury live with their elderly grandparents, Sharat Choudhury and Champa Choudhury of Urmal village under Udala block in Mayurbhan...