Orissa boy first Matric pass in tribe

BHUBANESWAR: Baya Mankidia (16) trekked 13kms daily and fought odds to do Orissa’s Mankidia nomadic tribe proud. Baya became the first matriculate from the tribe scattered in forests across the state’s Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh and Sambalpur districts on Monday. Elated by Baya’s achievement, the district administration announced to sponsor his higher education.
"The boy from Dama Sahi hamlet in Mayurbhanj district had discontinued studies after his father’s death last year. But when we came to know that he was the first Mankidia to reach the high school level, we persuaded him to appear in the exams. He passed with good marks," said sub-collector (Kaptipada) Sethi. "Since the boy belonged to a very poor family, we offered him a job. But he told us that he wanted to continue his studies, so we decided to help him."
Baya is overwhelmed. "I’m happy to have passed the exam. I want to study more and to do some work for my tribe," he said. Sethi said Baya’s success would encourage other children from the tribe to study.