MALKANGIRI: For 19-year-old Mangala Muduli, securing a medical seat in MKCG medical college and hospital (MCH) at Berhampur is the first step towards fulfilling a dream of providing quality healthcare to his people in the Bonda hill at Malkangiri.
Happy with the fact that he is the first from the Bonda tribe - a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group - to crack the NEET, Mangala wants to return to his village at Badbel in Mudulipada panchayat after completing his MBBS course to serve the locals for whom, access to healthcare is still a struggle.
In the national-level examination, he scored 348 marks out of 720 and bagged a state rank of 4,607 besides, 261st rank among tribal candidates who cleared the test. He has been provided a seat at the MKCG MCH. Although the NEET journey was a difficult one - poverty being the biggest roadblock - he found help from a few Good Samaritans including his teacher Utkal Keshari Das and activist Jayanti Buruda.
Son of a farmer Hadu Muduli and the second among four siblings, Mangala was determined to study well from childhood. Hadu enrolled Mangala to the Government SSD high school at Mudulipada. Here, a teacher Utkal Keshari Das noticed his interest in science and suggested that he should prepare for the NEET exam. Jayanti, who works for the cause of education for tribal children in the Bonda hill, helped him with science books and reading materials.
After clearing the HSC examination, Mangala took up science in Class XII at SSD school at Baldiaguda. During Covid-19 pandemic when the schools were closed down, it was Jayanti who brought him to her house in Malkangiri where he could attend online classes. “I had to return home during Covid. But as there was no mobile network, attending online classes was impossible for me. This was when I requested Jayanti didi to allow me to stay at her home and attend online classes and she agreed,” he said.
As he cleared the higher secondary examination with good marks, Das enrolled him for NEET coaching at a private institute in Balasore last year. He also provided him with a mobile phone through which he downloaded study materials for the exam. It was his first attempt at NEET this year.
“I have always wanted to become a doctor but the condition of my family is such that I could not have afforded coaching or good quality study materials had it not been for Das Sir and Jayanti Didi,” he said. Mangala wants to take up a rural posting in Mudulipada after his MBBS so that he can serve his community members.