From Chores to Code: Raveena Mehto’s Journey from Bihar Village to Tech Dreams
Just six months ago, 18-year-old Raveena Mehto spent her free time helping her mother with household chores in their mud house in Thakurganj, Bihar. Today, she’s swapped cooking for coding and dreams of moving to Bengaluru to work for a top tech company.
Raveena is one of 67 young women from across Bihar who left their homes in May to study at the newly launched School of Programming in Kishanganj, Bihar.
I had to fight for my chance to learn,” Raveena says. I convinced my mother, grandmother, and neighbors. This could change my life.
Women from villages across Bihar, from Araria to Gaya, have enrolled in the 21-month course that offers free coding training, accommodation, and food. The school is run by two NGOs, NavGurukul and Project Potential, aiming to open doors for rural women to join India’s booming $250 billion IT industry. Women now make up over 36% of the five million-strong IT workforce, but Zubin Sharma, founder of Project Potential, believes Bihar has much more untapped potential.
Only 9.4% of women in Bihar are in the workforce, the lowest in India, says Sharma, who splits his time between New York and Kishanganj. “Our mission is to help rural women gain access to good jobs and join India’s success story.
The School of Programming is quietly transforming lives. Graduates are becoming software engineers, earning Rs 20,000-25,000 per month, surpassing the Rs 10,000 average family income. These women are moving to cities like Bengaluru and Kolkata, where they become role models of change, career growth, and empowerment.
Vidya Mahabare, Professor of Economics at the Great Lakes Institute of Management, explains, Skill development programs don’t just boost earning potential—they help break social barriers and change patriarchal mindsets. It also increases women’s confidence, ambition, and decision-making power in their families.
Raveena’s days are long. She has coding classes from 8:30 am to 8:20 pm, with just two breaks. The students are eager to learn, tackling Python and Java on their laptops while speaking in English.
However, Raveena knows there’s still a long way to go.
The battle isn’t over, she says, Now I’m fighting with code on my laptop and my mother, who’s unsure about letting me work after the course ends.
But with her eyes full of hope, Raveena is determined to push forward and build a future where technology opens up new doors for her and other women like her.
