Teacher helps underprivileged students to realise dreams

Inspired by Anand Kumar's famed Super 30 in Patna, Ajay Bahadur Singh has been imparting free medical education to underprivileged students in Odisha, and now his initiative is bearing results.

Some 14 underprivileged students of Odisha have cleared the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), a national-level single entrance test for medical courses, thanks to the initiative by Singh's Zindagi Foundation.

Of 20 students, 18 had cleared the NEET last year while 12 students secured admission in government medical colleges in Odisha.Every year, Zindagi Foundation provides boarding, lodging and coaching to some selected underprivileged students free of cost.

"I am very happy that my efforts have paid results. All 14 students have cleared the NEET this year and I am confident that they would get seats in government medical colleges in the state," said Singh. He also wants to increase the number of students in the coming years. Students who joined the foundation to reach a medical college have some inspirational stories.

"My mother is selling 'Kakara Pitha' (a sweet deep-fried cake) to the ISKON temple here to eke out a living. My father, who was a carpenter, died in a road accident when I was in class sixth. After completing my Plus Two, I wanted to study medical education but had no money to support my education. Ajay sir supported me to realise my dream," said Krishna Mohanty, who has secured 15,295 all-India rank in NEET.

Aniruddha Nayak, who hails from Narasinghpur area of Cuttack district, also shared his story.

"I always wanted to be a doctor and serve the people. But my family's financial condition is very bad and cannot afford the coaching for medical education. My father is working as a hotel supervisor in Hyderabad," said Aniruddha.

Nayak, who scored about 83 per cent in Plus Two from BJB Junior College here, got selected in an entrance examination conducted by Zindagi and pursued medical coaching besides getting boarding and lodging free of cost. He secured 5,562 all-India rank in NEET.