Amravati, Apr 21 (PTI) Abandoned at birth and raised by a social worker, a 26-year-old visually impaired woman has cleared the Maharashtra Public Services Commission (MPSC) examination and will join the Nagpur collectorate as a revenue assistant.

Mala Papalkar, brought up by renowned social worker and Padma Shri awardee Shankar Baba Papalkar, suffers from 95 per cent visual impairment, but that did not deter her from pursuing academics and landing a government job.

Mala said she was elated about her achievement and credited her success to Shankar Baba and Amol Patil, who coached her for the examination.

She cleared her mains in the MPSC combined Group C examination in 2024 and got the results and appointment letter last week.

Talking to PTI, Shankar Baba Papalkar, who works for the welfare and rehabilitation of orphaned, divyang and destitute children, said police found Mala abandoned in Jalgaon and admitted her to a children’s home, where she lived till she turned 10.

The director of the children’s home found out about Papalkar’s ashram and approached him for the child’s rehabilitation.

Papalkar said he received the abandoned girl, made an Aadhaar card for her and christened her Mala Shankar Baba Papalkar.

Mala was admitted to a school for the visually impaired in Amravati, where she studied from Class 5 to 10 and excelled in Braille. She then went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from a college in Amravati.

Papalkar made efforts to ensure that Mala continued her learning and enrolled her at an institute to prepare her for competitive examinations.

He said Mala had to leave the ashram for Amravati city to prepare for a competitive examination, and Prakash Tokale Patil from Daryapur took her guardianship and helped her commute to coaching classes.

Mala first took a crack at the MPSC examination in 2022 but could not clear it and returned to the ashram. However, she did not give up and studied for 10 hours daily with online coaching on her mobile phone.

Papalkar said that Mala cleared the MPSC in her third attempt in 2024.

She recently received her appointment letter and will join work next month.

Mala will serve as a revenue assistant at the Nagpur collectorate.

“My joy knew no bounds. I am so happy that I ensured Mala appeared for the MPSC exam. Now the whole world will know that orphaned children get rehabilitated in India,” the 84-year-old social worker said, beaming with pride.

Papalkar said around 1 lakh orphaned divyangs have no place to live once they turn 18 years old, and they have to leave remand homes and care centres.

He demanded that the Central government make a law to ensure such individuals get permission to stay in care homes for the rest of their lives.

He said there are 123 orphaned divyangs living in his ashram, and all of them carry his name. PTI CLS ARU