Bhubaneswar: In an India where parents often spend lakhs of rupees on coaching to prepare their children for NEET, a different story is unfolding in the hills of Daringbadi in Kandhamal district.
Five children from two tribal brothers’ families have cleared NEET and entered medical colleges. Their parents are illiterate. Their families depend largely on farming. And none of the children had the advantage of formal NEET coaching.
Their preparation was built around textbooks, free online material and sheer determination.
Bursi Pradhan and his wife Anasuya of Shikabadi village under Tajungia Gram Panchayat never went to school. Their children, however, have taken a very different path.
Two years ago, their children Bibhishan and Monalisha joined Shaheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital, Koraput, after qualifying in NEET.
This year, their younger siblings Sunemi and Erasia also cleared the examination. So did Minakshi Pradhan, daughter of Bursi’s younger brother Jisaya.
For a family that has long depended on agriculture, having three children studying medicine at the same time is a remarkable turnaround.
But there was no privileged route to success.
“We have no non-agricultural income sources. We work in our own farmlands to make ends meet. We relied on textbooks and free online materials to prepare for NEET,” Bibhishan says.
The fields paid the bills. The books opened another door.
Their story is not an isolated one.
This year, Rajashree Pradhan of Dongamala village under Dasingbadi Gram Panchayat also cleared NEET and joined Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR), Burla, for her MBBS studies. She too comes from a poor tribal family and prepared without formal coaching.
In 2024, three other tribal students from Daringbadi — Sanatan Pradhan of Tadimaha, Linsa Pradhan of Garjadi and Kalakar Pradhan of Saberanga — secured admission to government medical colleges in Odisha.
The region has also produced doctors including Dr Sukriya Nayak, late Dr Jayapal Senapati, Dr Subarna Mallik, Dr Sunil Habda, Dr Samir Nayak, Dr Bishnu Prasad Sahu and Dr Jatindra Pradhan.
For development worker Kailash Chandra Dandapat, who has known these families for nearly four decades, the significance goes beyond examination results.
“I know all those families for the last forty years. Their financial condition is very miserable, and none of their parents are literate. Their success will definitely inspire others,” he says.
Most of these students studied in government schools. Their journeys underline a simple fact: talent is not confined to cities, private schools or affluent families.
In Daringbadi, the dream is changing.
For one generation, completing school was an achievement. For the next, medical college is becoming a possibility.
Bursi and Anasuya never entered a classroom. Their children are now entering hospitals and medical colleges. They have travelled from farmland towards medicine. And perhaps one day, one of them will make the journey back — as a doctor serving the hills from which the dream began.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
