By Purushottam Nayak
SIKABADI, September 22, 2026: In a remote corner of Odisha’s Kandhamal district, where daily-wage labour and small-scale farming sustain families, five young people from one extended tribal household are beginning a journey that once seemed almost unimaginable: medical college.
In Sikabadi village of Daringbadi block, Bursi Pradhan and his wife, Anusaya, have watched their children’s dreams grow far beyond the limits imposed by poverty. Four of their children and a niece are now pursuing MBBS degrees in government medical colleges across Odisha.
“I have spent my life working as a daily-wage labourer, but I never wanted poverty to decide the future of my children,” Bursi said. “We struggled for food, books, fees and travel, but we continued to believe that education could change their lives. I may have no wealth to leave them, but I want to leave them knowledge, dignity and the courage to serve others.”
The first breakthrough came with Bibhisana Pradhan, who qualified NEET in 2021 and secured admission to Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital in Koraput, the southern part of the Indian state of Odisha.
In the 2021–22 academic cycle, his performance on India’s highly competitive national medical entrance exam (NEET) placed him at an All India Rank of 213,086 out of hundreds of thousands of applicants.
However, under the regional quota system, Odisha’s state merit list tracked his localized rank at 3,511, placing him in competition for a specific pool of regional medical and dental seats.
His achievement changed the atmosphere inside the family.
His sister Monalisha Pradhan followed him into medical education. The 2024 Odisha MBBS/BDS merit list records her NEET All India Rank as 533,252 and Odisha state rank as 4,685. She subsequently joined the same medical college in Koraput.
Then came three more success stories.
Sunemi Pradhan secured an MBBS seat at Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital in Balangir. Asariya Pradhan joined Shaheed Rendo Majhi Medical College and Hospital in Bhawanipatna, while their cousin Minakhi Pradhan, who belongs to the same extended household, secured admission at Sri Jagannath Medical College and Hospital in Puri.
Together, the five are now pursuing the dream of becoming doctors.
What makes their story especially striking is not simply the number of medical seats secured, but the circumstances from which they emerged.
The family has faced severe financial hardship. Recent reports describe the household as living in difficult conditions, with Bursi’s health limiting his ability to work and Anusaya continuing daily-wage labour. The younger students prepared for NEET while staying in Berhampur and did so without formal coaching.
For the students, the success of the elder siblings became a source of confidence.
“I come from a poor daily-wage labourer family, but my parents never allowed poverty to limit my dreams,” said Sunemi. “Studying MBBS is a result of their sacrifices. I want to become a doctor who never forgets where I came from.”
The journey has involved sacrifice from the entire household. Monalisha, according to recent reporting, worked at a garment shop in Berhampur while pursuing her own studies and helping support her younger brother’s education.
Their story also carries a strong community dimension.
Father Sugrib Singh, a Catholic priest from the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar who comes from the same area, described the family’s journey as a witness to the transformative power of education.
“This family shows what education can do even when resources are scarce,” he said. “Their journey is not only about becoming doctors. It is about perseverance, sacrifice and giving hope to others. Their willingness to give land for a church in the village also reflects a desire to give something back to the community.”
For the Pradhan family, education has therefore become more than a route to professional success. It has become a way of imagining a different future.
Their story reflects a wider challenge facing students from remote rural and tribal communities in India, where geographical isolation, household income and access to educational resources can shape the opportunities available to young people.
Yet the Pradhan family’s experience also shows what can happen when determination survives those barriers.
One child entered medical college. Another followed. Then three more young members of the same family cleared NEET and secured MBBS seats.
The journey from Sikabadi to medical college has not erased the family’s hardships. But it has changed what seems possible.
For Bursi and Anusaya, the achievement represents years of sacrifice.
For the five young medical students, it represents something larger: an opportunity to turn education into service.
Their story is no longer simply about clearing NEET.
It is about five young people carrying the hopes of a family, a village and a community into the next chapter of their lives — toward becoming doctors who remember the difficult road that brought them there.
(Photo supplied)