Born to a farmer who tilled the land at night and worked at his shoe shop in the day, three sisters from a Rajasthan village scripted history as they were awarded Ph.D. degrees together from a university situated in Jhunjhunu district in India's desert state. The three sisters are Sarita Tilotiya who pursued her doctorate in Geography, Kiran Tilotiya who completed her Ph.D. in Chemistry, and the third sister is Anita Tilotiya who completed her doctorate in Education.

All of them were awarded the doctorate degree from Jagdishprasad Jhabarmal Tibrewala University which is situated in village Churela in Jhunjhunu.

The three sisters now want to contribute in pushing the education campaign - particularly among girls - to new heights in India. This is the second instance in the country when three sisters were awarded doctorates together.

Earlier, three sisters from Madhya Pradesh were awarded Ph.D. degrees together which was a first for India.

Speaking to IANS, the eldest Sarita said, "Our father always pushed us to pursue education. We never sat idle in our lives because our father, who is our idol, always remained busy and wanted us to be the same."

"Although we were born in rural surroundings, we were sent to hostels to pursue higher studies in Jaipur and Jhunjhunu district," she added, "In fact, all three of us pursued our Ph.D. after marriage for our father always said there should be no full stop in life."

Sarita said "The setting up of this university in the rural interiors gave new exposure to the girls. They were motivated to pursue higher education after the varsity opened in the interiors."

Sarita is 41 and was married at the age of 16. However, her father continued to be her inspiration and hence she started helping her husband in business. He was into food grains marketing. "I understood the pains of farmers after getting into my husband's business. Hence I choose my research work on the study of the concept of farmers towards agricultural produce marketing of Jhunjhunu district and the attitude and awareness of farmers towards traditional and e-procurement."

Kiran, 37, pursued her doctorate in chemistry on water pollution and now is serving a government job. However, she is open to accept anything challenging for the cause of society and nation. Her husband is into real estate and is quite supportive.

"I pursued my education in water pollution due to industrial effluents, its negative impact on human life and its abatement using scientific approach in India with special reference to Jaipur region under the supervision of Dr Rakesh Kumar," says Kiran.

The youngest Anita pursued her Ph.D. in Education. According to her, the setting up of a university in a rural area is an inspiration for rural folks who aspire to go for higher education.

"I pursued my doctorate under Dr DL Pareek and Dr Shyam Sundar on social availability, creativity, motivation and environmental awareness in the context of women empowerment in teachers," she added.