M. Nivetha, a 21-year-old girl working in a mill in Coimbatore, won a gold medal and an award instituted by the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) at the 13th convocation of the Tamil Nadu Open University (TNOU) on Monday, after securing the first rank in her Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) course.
She was part of the group of women working in K.P.R. Mill Limited, which has a collaboration with TNOU to educate its employees.
Speaking to The Hindu, Ms. Nivetha, hailing from a family from a modest economic background, said she joined the mill four years ago as a labourer after finishing Class 12, with a monthly take-home salary of ₹8,000. Her father worked in a factory and her mother was a homemaker.