Hyderabad, April 29 --  Sadam Rana's parents are labourers. He belongs to the Naikpod tribe of Telangana. He grew up in Mancherial district, far from the coaching centres and private schools that typically produce toppers. And yet, when the SSC 2026 results were declared, Rana had scored 583 out of 600, making him the fourth-highest scorer across all institutions run by the Telangana Tribal Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TGTWREIS).

His journey to that result began in a TGTWREIS school in Utnoor, Adilabad, where his teachers encouraged him to appear for an entrance test for the Society's School of Excellence (SOE) in Raghunathapalem, Khammam. He cleared it in Class 8 and moved there.

"My teachers motivated me ...