The 19 underprivileged students of the Zindagi program passed the NEET medical entrance exam
Bhubaneswar:
Keeping alive its motto of giving wings to aspiring doctors from underprivileged sections of society, an Odisha-based charitable group has achieved remarkable success this year as all 19 students passed the NEET medical entrance exam.
The results of the National Income and Eligibility Test (NEET) were released on Friday.
They are the children of day laborers, day laborers, vegetable sellers, truck driver, fisherman and idli-vada seller.
These successful students come from the Zindagi program run by a non-governmental organization of academic Ajay Bahadur Singh, who himself had to experience hunger pangs and a shortage of money in childhood that prevented him from becoming a doctor.
Under the program, talented and underprivileged students are selected from across Odisha and provided free food and training to help them break through NEET and become doctors.
Odisha’s noble initiative is similar to the famous Super 30 experiment by mathematician Anand Kumar.
“Neither poverty nor the coronavirus pandemic could stop the spirit of these students to achieve their dream of becoming doctors. This year the students of the Zindagi foundation also created history, 19 out of 19 students of the foundation have scored in the exam NEET 2020, “Singh said today.
Among the children of the Zindagi foundation is Khirodini Sahoo, who belongs to the Angul district.
His father works as a farm worker, who lost his job during the pandemic, driving the family into poverty.
“I got sick during the lockdown, arrived in Bhubaneswar by ambulance and told Ajay Sir everything. He kept me at his house and provided me with everything I needed,” said Khirodini, who has been ranked 2,594th across India, on NEET performed by the National Testing Agency. (NTA) said.
Satyajit Sahoo, whose father sells vegetables in cycle, has achieved 619 marks.
Another success story is that of Subhendu Parida, who used to sell “Idli Vada” together with his parents. He scored on the NEET exam with 609 points.
Nivedita Panda, his father who owns a betel shop in his village in Dhenkanal district, has achieved 591 marks.
Roshan Paik, who used to help his father, a farm worker, is another qualifier.
Manjeet, whose family survives from fishing, is another successful candidate.
Smruti Ranjan Senapati, a trucker’s ward, qualified on the NEET exam for admission to the government medical school with 536 points and 59044 AIR rank.
Ajay Bahadur Singh started the Zindagi Foundation in 2017 in Bhubaneswar.
“I do all of this without receiving any donation from any individual or organization, although many have offered it. I manage everything from my own resources, because I see my childhood in them,” Singh told PTI.
The man behind these children’s success stories had to drop out of medical school and sell tea and sharbat (gourd) to support his family through financial difficulties.
“I had to sell tea and sharbat at shravani mela in Baba Baidyanath temple city in Jharkhand to further my studies,” he said.
Under the project, talented students from poor economic backgrounds screened across the state receive free food, lodging and tuition to help them become doctors.
Twelve out of a batch of 14 who had broken the NEET in 2018 were admitted to the Odisha government medical colleges.
They were later received by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to commemorate their achievements.
“I couldn’t become a doctor, but when I see these children achieve their dreams, I feel like I have achieved mine. I would never accept that a bright child cannot achieve their dream just because of financial limitations. Go on, to ensure that none of the children lose. their dreams due to lack of resources, “he said.
Impressed by the noble initiative, the same Super30 founding mathematician has made several trips to the Zindagi foundation to inspire aspiring doctors.
Movie star Hrithik Roshan, who played the role of Anand Kumar in the biopic “Super 30,” also praised the Odisha project.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
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