Odisha�s tribal unlock the doors of IIM

It is considered really tough for any boy or girl who lives in a tribal group to complete their secondary education. For students of many tribal groups in Odisha completing class 10th or 12th is really a big deal. But determination and desire to achieve success and little help can bring out the best as in the case of Ganeswar Miniaka, who is all set to take admission into the India’s most prestigious institutions, including Indian Institute of Management (IIM). He scored 56.46 percentile in the Common Admission Test (CAT) which was held in October last year, thanks to his efforts and support he received by a private institution.

CAT is considered as one of the toughest and rigorous entrance examination for business administration programmes, the exam score is accepted by not only the prestigious IIMs, but also by various leading management institutes of the country to enrol students into various management programmes. Miniaka said, "Although I have got six calls including those from IIM-Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Kashipur (Uttarakhand) and Udaipur (Rajasthan), I have decided to join IIM-Triruchiapalli."

Miniaka, who resides in Serigumma village in Rayagada district, nearly 550 km from here, attributes about his success to endless efforts and the help and support he received from Kalinga Institute of Social Science (KISS), which provided him free coaching, study environment and proper guidance.

Miniaka cleared his commerce degree programmes with distinction from Kalinga Institute. He said, “I used to help my father in agricultural work during my school days. I had never thought I would ever be able to study in a B-school. It has become possible only because of KISS.” He said, he wants to help poor students of his community.