Ex-jawan trains youth to join Indian Army

FROM POVERTY TO PERSEVERANCE

- POST NEWS NETWORK

Simanchal Barik, a retired Indian Army jawan, has established Berhampur Physical Academy at Anantanagar here to train youths who aspire to join the armed forces. What began with just four unemployed youths has now grown into a thriving training centre. Today, the academy trains more than 500 aspirants, including over 80 girls from Odisha and other states.

Reports indicate that Simanchal comes from a poor family. His father Pitambar Barik had moved his family from neighbouring Gajapati district to the outskirts of Ganjam, eventually settling in Ramnagar near the railway station. Among his six children Simanchal is the fifth, whose early life was marked by poverty and struggle.

Despite financial woes, Pitambar enrolled Simanchal in Class I at the Government Municipal High School in Berhampur’s Courtpeta area. Pitambar somehow could gift his son a single school uniform and a few books each year. When the uniform tore, it was stitched and reused. Ashamed of his worn clothes, Simanchal often hesitated to attend school.