Berhampur: Two orphaned girls who grew up in a child care institution (CCI) here are set to become self-reliant after securing jobs with a private company following completion of their studies at the govt-run Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Purushottampur, Ganjam district.Lalita Maharana and Mama Mohapatra, both 18, left for Bengaluru on Wednesday to join their workplace after receiving offer letters following their selection in a campus recruitment drive. Both completed a one-year computer operator and programming assistant (COPA) course at the ITI.Maharana, from Bhanjanagar, and Mohapatra, from the Rangeilunda area of Ganjam district, were admitted to Utkal Balashram in 2015 and 2021, respectively, on the direction of the district child welfare committee (CWC). After the death of Maharana’s parents, her relatives were unwilling to take responsibility for her and preferred that she be housed in the CCI. Mohapatra was shifted to the institution from a privately run orphanage in Kanishi.“The two girls were brought up at CCI and supported in pursuing their studies at the ITI and the State University of Open Schooling (SUOS),” said district child protection officer Rajashree Dash. While they stayed in the ITI hostel during their course, the CCI bore their other expenses, she added.Before boarding a Bengaluru-bound bus, the girls thanked the staff of Utkal Balashram. “We were brought up here. This institution has given us an opportunity to reshape our destinies,” they said.Dash said their success would inspire other inmates of the institution to overcome challenges and strive for a better future.Sasmita Padhy, superintendent of the institute, described both girls as disciplined and hardworking. “We expected them to succeed while they were studying at the ITI,” she said.Padhy said eight of the 44 inmates currently residing in the institution are pursuing courses at ITIs. “We hope they too become self-reliant like Lalita and Mama after completing their training,” she added.