For Mt. Everest achiever, prize stays out of reach

After scaling the peak, Malavath Poorna was honoured by Prime Minister Modi. File photo

Malavath Poorna made history by becoming the youngest girl to have scaled Mt. Everest in 2014, but has found that getting the promised rewards for her feat from Telangana State officials is even more of a challenge.

The announcement of prizes made by Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao — of a three-room house and five acres of plot — has not been implemented.

Poorna, who was 13 then, climbed Mt. Everest on the morning of May 25, nearly three years ago. Aware that Telangana State was about to be formed (it came into existence on June 1, 2014), the young mountaineer unfurled the Telangana flag atop Mt. Everest.

Within days of her feat, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao made the announcement of prizes for the young achiever. A cash reward of ₹25 lakh was handed over to Poorna on the eve of Independence Day in 2014 at Golconda Fort.

Believed promises

“Since the cash reward came soon, I expected the other incentives announced by the government would materialise quickly,” said the teenager’s father Devidas.

Unfazed that it did not happen, he continued to meet officials. Since he already had a two-room house in Pakala village, the farmer represented that she be given a house either at Kamareddy or Nizamabad. “That would be useful to my daughter as she would not live in the village anyway,” he said. In 2015, authorities suggested land at Thippapoor of Biknoor mandal. Yet, the proposal was dropped. Two more proposals also failed, including one in Sirconda mandal, where he says he paid a ₹1 lakh advance.