Lifting the Veil, Letting in Light

Hailing from the terror-torn Bastar region, a 24-year-old from the Gond community has overcome all odds to become a medical officer at his native district, Ejaz Kaiser documents

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Generations in the Bastar zone of south Chhattisgarh have grown up under the shadow of Maoist terror. One such individual is 24-year-old Dr Harish Podiyami, a tribal from the Gond community who has served as a medical officer in his home district since August last year.

Born and brought up in Sukma, Harish defied the odds by successfully completing an MBBS course at Raipur's Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Medical College in 2023. Coming from an area woefully roiled by Left-wing extremism and violence unleashed for the past over four decades, it was no mean feat. But Harish is not done yet. He is already preparing himself for another competitive exam to pursue a postgraduate degree—MD or MS.