Amravati (Maharashtra): Mala Papalkar, a visually impaired girl from Amravati, has passed the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) exam. The story of Mala is of grit. Mala was dumped by her parents after she was born in a garbage bin at the Jalgaon Railway Station 25 years ago.
Mala, who currently resides at late Ambadas Pant Vaidya Orphanage in Vazar, has been selected as a clerk in Maharashtra government after the results of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission exam was declared recently.
Everyone in the orphanage is overwhelmed with Mala's success and she is a role model for several youth. Not knowing who her parents are, Mala grew up with nearly 150 orphans and mentally-retarded children.
The police searched for her parents, but could not find them. As Jalgaon does not have any system for rehabilitation of the disabled, the Jalgoan Police handed her over to Shankar Baba Papalkar, director of the late Ambadas Pant Vaidya Orphanage as per the order of the Child Welfare Committee.
Shankar Baba Papalkar, who was recently honoured with Padma Shri, country's fourth highest civilian award, accepted her responsibility and named her Mala.
He took care of her education and Mala was fond of learning and reading books from childhood. She continued to study with determination and hard work. After passing 10th and 12th from Dr. Narendra Bhiwapurkar Andha Vidyalaya, Amravati, she passed the Bachelor of Arts degree examination 2018 from Vidarbha Gyan Vigyan Sanstha, Amravati.
Prakash Tople, a professor from Daryapur, took over the guardianship of Mala for her postgraduate studies and provided her with full support for her education.
In 2019, she turned to competitive exams. As she struggled to prove herself in competitive exams, Amol Patil, Director of Unique Academy in Amravati, gave her invaluable guidance.
Mala expressed happiness over her success and told ETV Bharat, "I am very happy to have passed MPSC examination. But I am not going to stop here, now I want to appear for the Union Public Service Commission exam. Ever since my childhood, I loved to learn something new. Books were not available for preparation of MPSC exam in Braille script. I prepared with the help of Professor Amol Patil by listening to audio cassette."
Professor Amol Patil on his part said that guiding Mala was a challenging task for him but he accepted it. "I had faith in Mala's perseverance and hard work," Patil quipped.
"Mala was 100 per cent visually impaired, so she was exempted from writing. Also, the MPSC allowed her to get a writer as the written exam paper was objective in nature," added Patil.
"A visually impaired child, who was found in a garbage bin in an abandoned condition has achieved great success with determination and hard work. I am happy to receive the Padma Shri award, but I am even more proud of Mala. This will be written in golden letters in the history of rehabilitation of disabled people not only in Maharashtra but also in the country," an emotional Shankar Baba Papalkar told 'ETV Bharat'.
Mala Papalkar will felicitated by Amravati District Collector Saurabh Katiyar at the Amravati Collector Office on Monday, May 27.
