The settlements in Madhesh are often inhabited by poor communities. The settlements, which consist of small huts with courtyards on the streets, have their own stories.

The Dom and Musahar communities, who are the most backward among the poor, have a problem getting food in the morning and evening. It has become common for the residents of Musahar settlement to sleep hungry on days when they do not get work.

Fire (ghur) is the only way to escape the bitter cold in the tents with plastic roofs to protect them from the cold in the winter. 22-year-old Pawan Dev Majhi, a 10-family Musahar settlement at the end of Danauli in Pipara Rural Municipality-7, which is burdened by a pile of these problems, has started studying medical education (MBBS) on a full scholarship.

Pawan Dev says that he took a loan of two hundred thousand rupees to prepare for medical studies in Kathmandu. His mother, Sirjana Devi, works as a laborer in the village, while his father, Shiv Narayan Majhi, is in Qatar for foreign employment. He said that the money his father sends from Qatar is not enough to cover his studies.

Pawan Dev said that he decided to prepare for MBBS after receiving a scholarship for his studies last year (2081) and went to Kathmandu to enroll for BDS. ‘I was not prepared for the entrance exam. There was no one to guide me. While going to Kathmandu on a night bus, I thought I could get a good guide and get enrolled in MBBS,’ he said. ‘I took a loan of Rs. 200,000 from my home at an interest rate of Rs. 300 per month and stayed in Kathmandu to study coaching. After a year, I managed to get enrolled.’ 

After getting enrolled in college on a full scholarship to study MBBS, he enrolled with the money donated by activists of the Musahar community.

Pawan Dev, who studied class 12 from Gogal Prasad Model Secondary School in Basahiya, Dhanusha, which is connected to Danauli in Mahottari, took the entrance exam three times and got a full scholarship for MBBS.

‘I passed the exam the first time but did not get a scholarship. The second time, I got a scholarship to study BDS, BPH and other subjects in addition to MBBS. But my heart was in MBBS. After preparing in Kathmandu, I got the opportunity to study MBBS on a full scholarship for the third time,’ Pawan Dev said.

It cost 83 thousand rupees just to enroll in the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan on a full scholarship. He said that even though the necessary funds for travel and admission were raised through fundraising, it was challenging to find financial resources to study for 6 years.

‘Due to the expenses incurred for 6 years, there is uncertainty as to whether the dream of becoming a doctor will be fulfilled. The family cannot afford hostel, food, textbooks and personal expenses,’ he said.

He informed that he is discussing the issue with the college seniors. The family is barely surviving on the 20 thousand rupees that his father sends to Qatar every month.

Mother Srijana Devi wants the government to provide financial assistance to her son Pawan Dev to study medicine. She is sorting through the old textbooks her son has read and selling them to cover the cost of sending them to Dharan. ‘I am trying to cover the cost of the books in the sacks and bags all over the house by selling the useless ones. I worked as a laborer and even ate a meal to educate Pawandev. I have taken loans from my family and relatives. I am carrying the burden of debt while educating my son,' she said.