From newspaper hawking to Odisha Civil Services qualifier, Sambalpur youth comes a long way

Sambalpur: Once a newspaper hawker, a youth in Sambalpur district cracked Odisha Civil Services (OCS) Examination-2020 becoming an inspiration for many.

Dhanamali Mahananda from Bareipali area of Sambalpur district secured 248th rank in the list of candidates cleared the OCS Examination-2020, whose results were announced last week.

With rigorous preparation on internet, the 27-year-old youth successfully cleared the examination without formal coaching. He credited the video sharing platform YouTube for his success.

According to reports, Dhanamali belongs to a poor family. He was raised by his mother Nalini Mahananda after his father drove her from house in 2004.

Being ditched by husband, Nalini along with her two sons Dhanamali, Kousik and daughter Gayatri had moved into her father’s house. The lone woman built a cottage for her children and worked as a daily labourer for livelihood.

As Dhanamali grew up, he relocated to Bareipali in Sambalpur and stayed at one of his relatives home to pursue his studies. To support his mother, he worked in a grocery at Bareipali and later he started working as a newspaper hawker in 2007 with monthly salary of Rs 300. He continued in the job for around eight months.

After passing out Class 10 examination in 2011, he started working as a tutor. Along with it, he also worked in a catering service in Sambalpur. After clearing his Plus 2 examination in Science stream, he was enrolled into Civil Engineering course at the VSSUT in Burla. He continued his studies after availing loan from a bank.

After his engineering degree, he worked with an NGO in Chhattisgarh. He left the job in 2021 to concentrate in studies to crack the civil services in Odisha Government.

With clearing the Odisha Civil Services Examination for the year 2020, he gave all his credit for success to his family, friends and people who have supported him to reach his dream.

Dhanamali praised various schemes of the government that helped him in achieving success.