Subrat Mohanty
Sambalpur10th Oct: A few years ago, Dhanamali Mahanand, 27 of Nuapada at Bareipali in Sambalpur city was working as a newspaper hawker to pursue his education, but his financial hardship failed to deter him from achieving the goal he aspired to.
Battling poverty, Dhanamali, who is the son of a daily wage labourer mother, fought his way up to emerge as the 248 rank holder in the OPSC examination in his first attempt, the result of which was announced on Friday.
“My father was a daily wage labourer. But he drove my mother out of the house in 2004, following which my mother came to my maternal uncle’s village at Baunsara in Dhama area of Sambalpur district with my siblings. She worked as a daily wage labourer to support the family there. However, I stayed in the house of a relative in Sambalpur to continue my study here,” said Dhanamali.
Dhanamali worked as a catering boy in marriages, worked as labourer in a godown, and also worked as a newspaper hawker for some months to pursue his education. “I completed my plus two from G.M. Junior College in Sambalpur and later got selected to take admission to the Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT), Burla but I didn’t have Rs 38,000 for admission. However, some of my teachers and well-swishers helped me the admission,” he said.
After completing engineering in Civil, Dhanamali joined an NGO and worked in the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh. “The first thing I did, after joining the NGO, was to stop my mother from working as a labourer. While working in Bastar, I also decided to prepare for administrative jobs as it gives the opportunity to work for the poorest of the society,” he said.
“I quit the job at the NGO in 2021 and started self-preparation for OPSC. The Internet helped me with my preparation. I am delighted with the result. The result has also given me a lot of confidence and I am now thinking of preparing for UPSC,” said Dhanamali, attributing his success to his mother.
