Bhubaneswar: Overcoming visual impairment and financial hardships, a 32-year-old teacher from Jajpur district has successfully cleared the Odisha Civil Services (OCS) Examination 2023, securing the 300th rank in his third attempt.

Mahesh Kumar Panda, a resident of Bada Biruhan village in Korei block, has been serving as an Odia teacher at Adarsha Vidyalaya in Kuleilo under Cuttack district’s Athagarh block, since 2016.

Blind since birth, Panda was raised in a modest farming family as the youngest of five siblings. His father supported the seven-member household through agriculture. Despite his challenges, Panda remained committed to his education.

He completed his matriculation from the School for the Blind in Nuapada in 2009, graduated from Ravenshaw University, earned a B.Ed from the

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