Kathmandu: Two Indian Everesters from Andhra Pradesh, were feted here Sunday for scaling the world’s tallest mountain from the Tibetan side.
Jagaran Media Centre (JMC), a non-governmental organisation established in 2000 by journalists from the Dalit community, and Nepal Dalit Civil Society (NDCS), jointly organised a felicitation programme in Kathmandu where 16-year-old Sadhana Palli Anand and 13-year-old Malavath Poorna were felicitated. Poorna has set the world record as the youngest female to scale the world’s tallest peak.
Nepali Dalit activists hailed their success and wished them a better future in the programme where several Dalit activists and lawmakers were present.
Poorna, who belongs to a tribal family in India’s Andhra Pradesh state, was struggling hard to get support for her Everest bid. Her father, Malavath Devidas, who just earns $600 a year, had received sponsorship from one social welfare organisation run by the government to climb Mt Everest.
Earlier, she had reached out to Nepali officials to climb the Everest from the Nepali side but they declined because, according to Nepali law, a person below the age of 16 is not permitted to climb Mt Everest, After the rejection, she, along with Anand, attempted from the Tibetan side.
On Twitter, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Poorna for becoming the youngest female to conquer Mt Everest.