Stories
From Cleaning Toilets at SBI to AGM: The Incredible Success Story of Pratiksha Tondwalkar
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News18•10-10-2026, 13:34
From Cleaning Toilets at SBI to AGM: The Incredible Success Story of Pratiksha Tondwalkar
- •Pratiksha Tondwalkar lost her husband at the age of 20 and began working as a part-time sanitation worker at SBI in 1985 to support her young son.
- •Despite earning only 60 to 65 rupees a month and facing immense hardships, she never gave up on her education and studied at night under an oil lamp.
- •She passed her 10th-grade exams, completed her graduation, and cleared departmental tests to rise from a sanitation worker to an Assistant General Manager at SBI.
- •After retiring from the bank, she fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a doctor at the age of 55 by completing a naturopathy course.
Key Questions Answered
Pratiksha Tondwalkar started working as a part-time sanitation worker at the State Bank of India in 1985, where her duties included sweeping, mopping, and cleaning toilets before the bank opened.
After starting as a sanitation worker, she was promoted to a messenger in 1990, became a clerk-cum-cashier in 1995 after passing a departmental exam, and eventually rose to become the Assistant General Manager (AGM) in June 2022.
Due to early marriage and family responsibilities, she dropped out after the 7th grade, but later studied at night under a kerosene lamp using old scrap books, eventually passing her 10th-grade exam and completing her graduation.
