Ex-Maoist's daughter becomes trainee engineer in Maharashtra, dreams of BTech

Aravinda Barsagade, 20, has started work as a trainee engineer in Gadchiroli, marking a new chapter for a family that has moved on from a difficult past. Her father was once part of a Maoist group, but she has completed a diploma in civil engineering and joined Lloyds Metals and Energy's LT Gondwana Skill Hub in Maharashtra's Hedri.

Her story comes from a district in eastern Maharashtra that once had a significant Naxalite presence and was declared Naxal-free by the Union government in March 2026. Now working as a trainee site engineer at the company's township project at Aldandi, Aravinda says she wants to continue her studies and pursue a B Tech while working.

Aravinda grew up in Bhogapur in Sironcha tehsil, where her village had no electricity and no roads. Her father, Rajbabu Barsagade, worked with the Karaspalli Gram Panchayat but left the job due to some issues and joined the Maoists in 2005, she says. Her mother, Lata, went through years of hardship, and Aravinda remembers that at times she would take her into the forests to look for her husband. Rajbabu Barsagade surrendered before the police in 2010.

Despite these conditions, Aravinda completed her schooling and finished a diploma course in engineering last year. She says she is happy to have made her parents proud, especially her mother, who struggled for years. Besides her mother, she credits college teacher Anil Damode and advocate Kavita Moharkar for her success.

According to Aravinda, Damode motivated her and taught her to keep a positive attitude, while Moharkar guided her in her career. From growing up in a village without basic facilities to starting work as a trainee engineer, she says she now wants to build on that progress by studying further and moving ahead in her career.