Success Story: Rourkela Snacks Boy Now Army Officer

Bhubaneswar: December 12 will remain a special day in the life of Balbanka Tiwari of Bihar. On this day, he was promoted to the rank of an Army officer from a sepoy and also met his three-month-old daughter for the first time.

Well! Why are we talking about Army Officer Balbanka Tiwari? His is a story of sheer hard work and determination to achieve success in life.

The 28-year-old of Sundarpur Barja village of Ara town in Bihar’s Bhojpur district hails from a poor farmer family. Recounting his struggle during childhood, Tiwari said his was a joint family and his farmer father worked hard to make ends meet. He took up work after he passed Class X as he was the only son among his siblings, Tiwari added.

In 2008, after finishing school, he came to Odisha in search of work and joined an iron fittings factory in Rourkela. After a few months, he started working at a snack factory where he earned Rs 50-a-day till Class 12, which he passed from Odisha. He went on to complete graduation from a college in the state.

During this time, his uncle, who was a sepoy in the Army, informed him about an Army recruitment drive in Danapur area near his home in Bihar, said Tiwari.

Tiwari passed in his second attempt, and joined as a sepoy. His first posting was at the army’s EME centre in Bhopal in 2012.

While serving in Bhopal, Tiwari learnt about the Army Cadet College (ACC). He passed the test and joined ACC in IMA in January 2017. From there, he finally commissioned as an army officer on December 12.