By Purushottam Nayak
Bhubaneswar, Oct 24, 2024: A young Catholic woman, who had, as a child survived the anti-Christian violence in Odisha’s Kandhamal district, credits Jesus for her admission to a medical college this year after clearing the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET).
“It is the power of Christ which strengthened and empowered me to succeed the toughest exam,” Linsa Pradhan told Matters India on October 23.
The 21-year-old woman has joined Moharaj Krishna Chandra Gajapati Medical College and Hospital at Berhampur, after the NEET, conducted by the National Testing Agency on June 4.
“I credit this achievement to my parents who encouraged me with love and guidance. They provided me a learning environment that helped me relax and be focused and motivated,” Pradhan said.
She also said that her experience has shown that hard work does not go in vain.
The young girl also thanked St. Xavier School managed by Jesuits at Rutungia in Korumunda, and the Franciscan Clarist nuns and teachers for “constantly guiding me.”
She had secured first division in the tenth-grade exam in 2018.
She then completed the twelfth-grade science in 2021 from Nayagargh Divine Higher Secondary School. She cleared the NEET by securing 402 out of the total 720 marks.
As many as 2.3 million young people all over India had written the exam this year.
Pradhan was born March 15, 2003, as the second of four children, at Garjedi village in Kandhamal district that comes under the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar.
“I was five years old when my father took me from the school at night by cycle to my village,” she recalled the 2008 anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal that claimed more than 100 lives and rendered some 56,000 homeless
She said they faced a threat to life as “ours is the only Catholic among 34 families in my village. We were in the relief camp of Daringbadi.”
Ilias Pradhan, her father and a primary government teacher at Mondobadi, Badabanga Panchayat, too thanked Jesus for saving his family from the violence.
“We are thankful and grateful to Jesus Christ for blessing our daughter with knowledge, wisdom and determination. She has brought great honour and respect for us,” he told Matters India.
Clarist Sister Jyothis, who taught Pradhan in the school, recalled the girl being simple and average from a humble background.
“But she achieved success in the NEET exam through sheer determination. Studying on her own, she displayed remarkable perseverance and dedication. As her teacher, I am extremely proud of her achievement and confident that she will continue to reach greater heights,” the nun told Matters India.
Pankaj Pradhan, a catechist of Our Lady of Charity Parish Raikia, commended the new student of medicine for passing the NEET without attending coaching classes offline. He congratulated her for bringing fame to the Catholic community in the region.
He expressed the hope that Pradhan, as a doctor, would serve people irrespective of their religion and caste, as her Lord Jesus.
Pradhan received a cash award 3,000 rupees from Odisha Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida for the success.
Resilience of Linsa is rewarded. She has become a role model for other girls.
It’s a very commendable feat by Linsa Pradhan who hails from the marginalised class in Odisha’s Kandhamal district. May she persist with her dogged determination and professional skill.
It’s a good news for all of us. Thank you dear Fr. Purushottam Nayak for bringing out this kind of news.