Kalpetta: On July 26, a Saturday, 17-year-old Nivedita R K (name changed upon request) of Wayanad's Chooralmala received a call from Yenepoya Dental College, Mangalore. She was all set to join the college's BDS programme on a full scholarship, covering tuition, accommodation, and food, after Kalpetta MLA T Siddique took up her case with the deemed-to-be university's pro chancellor, Mohammed Farhaad Yenepoya.

But she was not prepared for the call that came with an unexpected request. She had to deposit ₹2.05 lakh with the Union Health Ministry's Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) by noon on Monday to confirm the admission. The refundable caution deposit was introduced to prevent agents from squatting on self-financing seats.

Nivedita's father, a concrete construction worker, and mother, a tea plantation hand, did not have any money. They lost their home in the 2019 landslide that hit Puthumala in Meppadi panchayat. Nivedita was around 11 years old then. The family moved to a rented house in Chooralmala. After the July 30, 2024, landslide that ripped through Mundakkai and Chooralmala, they were on the road again with just the clothes they were wearing.  

Nivedita's father said he tried to approach the MLA again, just like he did for admission. But Siddique was down with food poisoning and admitted to Baby Memorial Hospital in Kozhikode. He was unreachable. "The girl was crying and getting panic attacks," said Adv Pranav C Hari, a member of the MLA's team who was helping her out.

They finally got through to the MLA on the evening of July 27. Siddique asked Nivedita to reach the Malabar Gold Charitable Trust office in Kozhikode by 11 am the next day. He had fixed an appointment with the trust’s chairman, M P Ahammed. Around 10.30 am, Siddique slipped out of the hospital, leaving his wife, Sharafunnisa, to face the doctors' fury, and joined Nivedita at the meeting.

The Malabar Gold chairman said the trust couldn’t release the funds on such short notice due to possible audit objections. Instead, he wrote a personal cheque to Nivedita. But her troubles weren’t over. She had already missed the noon deadline. Siddique made a few calls to ministers in Karnataka, and after some time, was informed that the deadline had been extended by three days, to July 31. That brought some relief.

She went to her bank, Kerala Gramin Bank in Kalpetta, but a new problem awaited. Her account had been inactive due to a lack of transactions and wasn’t linked to her PAN. The bank reactivated her account, issued a new debit card with a ₹5 lakh daily limit, and linked it to her PAN – all before 4 pm. Twenty-four hours later, when the debit card got activated, she went to a nearby cafe to transfer the money to the MCC's account, but the transaction failed because it required a GST code.

On July 30, the first anniversary of the landslide, while everyone gathered for memorial prayers, she returned to the bank. The bank helped her transfer the money to the cafe's account. The cafe owner, who had internet banking, then transferred it to the Medical Counselling Committee's account. "She lived with the dream of becoming a doctor. Her NEET rank didn’t allow her to get one. But I couldn’t bear to see even her BDS dream slipping away," said Siddique.

Nivedita's story is just one among 141. After the landslide upended lives in Chooralmala and Mundakkai, students pursuing higher education suddenly found themselves in limbo. Stepping in, MLA T Siddique coordinated with corporate donors, including Malabar Gold, and educational institutions to create a support system that covered every affected student. The result: all 141 students now have their educational expenses covered, not just for a year or two, but until they finish their courses. It’s a model of long-term rehabilitation rarely seen in disaster-hit regions.

"A student who joined a professional course last year will complete her course in 2028 or 2029. So her total educational expenses till 2029 has been taken over," said Siddique. It is not just tuition, mess fee, uniform, hostel, internship expenses, dissertation, examination fee, even travelling back to their villages during the course for vacation have been accounted for, said Siddique. "When they complete their courses, we will get in touch with the same companies to help find them jobs," he said.

Saraj, who was pursuing MCA at Pondicherry University when the landslide struck, lost six members of his family. The Association of Automobile Workshop Kerala, whose member his father was, built a home for him. "I got a call from the MLA's office asking about my plans," said Saraj. He now works as an IT associate at Malabar Gold's headquarters.

How the scheme evolved
"After the landslides, one of the biggest disruptions was to higher education. Most students were studying outside, in hostels and colleges across Kerala and beyond," said Kalpetta MLA T Siddique.

During one of his visits to the relief camps, a student pursuing a self-financing course at the University of Calicut approached him for help. "I won’t name her. She held my hand and said her fees were overdue and there was no way to pay," he recalled.

When he returned to his office, more students were waiting for him. "I flagged this to the government, urging for a dedicated intervention in higher education. But there was no response," he said.

"That's when I realised if we don’t step in, these children will fall through the cracks. Some had lost parents, homes, even their entire support systems. Education was their only way forward, and if that too slips away, we would be staring at a social calamity," said the MLA.

With the help of Dr Idrees V from the Thanal Dialysis Network, Siddique set up a dedicated initiative called Revive Wayanad. "We hired eight professionals, with zero political involvement, to collect data across sectors," he said. Their salaries were funded by Thanal.

In higher education alone, they identified 141 students affected by the landslide. "One girl, a student at Alappuzha Medical College, lived in the lane quarters near a tea estate dispensary in Mundakkai. Her house was washed away," he said.

Another student, admitted to a PhD programme at the University of Minnesota, was denied an education loan by banks because he had a full scholarship of ₹43.27 lakh for five years. Yet, the student, son of an autorickshaw driver, needed ₹4.5 lakh for his air travel and his initial one-month stay in the US. The MLA was struck by his research focus: the impact of British colonialism on the Western Ghats. A third, studying tourism in Thiruvananthapuram, had lost his family entirely.

Siddique's team wrote to all the colleges and universities in which these 141 students were enrolled, requesting fee waivers. Few responded. "So I called each of them," he said. "I told them we were stepping in to support these children, and requested them to reduce their fee as part of the social responsibility.” Many agreed to reduce fees by 20–25%.

The remaining costs were then calculated, not just for the current academic year, but until course completion. "We factored in inflation, likely fee hikes, and set aside 6% for emergencies, like if a student shifts to another city or course," said Adv Pranav Hari. The final estimate came to ₹2.52 crore.

This proposal was presented to Malabar Gold Charitable Trust’s chairman, M P Ahammed. After two rounds of discussing the nitty-gritties, Ahammed agreed to fund the entire amount. Malabar Gold named the education scheme 'Uyirp',  or 'Resurrection',  for the students of Chooralmala and Mundakkai.

More institutions followed suit. Siddique approached Yenepoya University and NICHE in Kanyakumari. The pro-chancellor of Yenepoya (a deemed-to-be university), Mohammed Farhaad Yenepoya, admitted eight students from Chooralmala, one in BDS and seven in nursing, all on full scholarships, outside the Uyirp scheme.

Farook College admitted four students with support from its alumni association.

This isn’t a no-strings-attached programme. Students are expected to steer clear of drugs, bullying, and ragging, and must treat women with respect, non-negotiables written into their contracts. One complaint, and they forfeit the scholarship. The MLA's team of eight keeps a close watch, checking in with colleges to track each student's progress, including attendance.

Sushmita (name changed upon request) is among the 141 students whose lives were given a lift-off by the programme. She had always dreamt of becoming a commercial pilot. Her mother, a single parent and cleaning staff at a private firm, stood by her every step. "She supported my dreams, maybe hoping they’d change after Class 10," said the girl, with a lilt of laughter in her voice.

Sushmita attempted the NDA exam but didn't clear it. An institute in Thiruvananthapuram offered an aircraft maintenance course for ₹10 lakh, a notch below her original dream, and well out of financial reach.
One day, while picking up a food kit from Meppadi, she stopped by her childhood friend's house. The friend was leaving for an allied health science course in Kanyakumari the next day. "She told me about the MLA's education initiative," said Sushmita.

Today, she is in her third semester of BTech Aeronautical Engineering at Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education (NICHE) in Kanyakumari, the same college as her friend, with all expenses covered. "Everything’s fine here," she said. "Except the college is a bit too strict." Siddique believes this model, providing full education support for disaster-affected students, may be the first of its kind in India, ensuring children graduate debt-free.

This year, too, he and his team are finding sponsors for a new batch of students. "This isn't charity," he said. "It's asset creation. It's the only way Wayanad will move forward tomorrow."