Bihar man becomes professor in university where he worked as peon

Kamal Kishor Mandal, 42, worked as a peon for around 20 years before completing his PhD (Image credit: News18)

A Bihar man has been appointed assistant professor in the same university where, up until very recently, he worked as a peon. Kamal Kishor Mandal, 42, has inspired many with his story of determination and hard work to rise above his circumstances.

In 2003, financial considerations forced Mandal to take up a job as night guard at RD & DJ College in Munger, Bihar. Despite being a political science graduate, he could not continue with his studies as he needed money urgently, reports Times of India.

Barely a month after he joined work, Mandal was sent to the Ambedkar Thought and Social Work department (Post Graduate) at the Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University (TMBU) on deputation. After five years, his post was changed to peon.

By then, eager to continue his education, Mandal asked the university for permission. “I requested the department to grant me permission to study further which they did. Soon, I resumed study and did the MA (in Ambedkar Thought and Social Work) in 2009,” he told TOI.

After completing his Master’s, Mandal sought permission for doing PhD in 2009. But it was not until 2012 that the Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University granted him permission. The following year, he enrolled in the university’s PhD programme and submitted his thesis in 2017.

“I never allowed poverty and family problems to come in the way of my study. I had attended classes in the morning and duty in the afternoon while I used the night hours to revise the class study,” he said.

Mandal was awarded a PhD degree in 2019, by which time he had also managed to clear the National Eligibility Test (NET) for the lectureship and started looking for jobs.

Luck favoured the Bhagalpur man in 2020, when the Bihar State University Service Commission (BSUSC) advertised vacancies for four posts of assistant professor in TMBU.

Twelve candidates were interviewed, from which Mandal was chosen to be appointed assistant professor in the same Ambedkar Thought and Social Work department of the university where he worked as a peon.

He dedicates his success to the department authorities and his teachers who encouraged him to continue his education.