Tribal students from remote Maharashtra villages clear NEET – Times of India

NAGPUR: Tribal students belonging to small farmer families from remote villages of Gadchiroli and Melghat in Maharashtra have cleared the recently conducted National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) 2021 and are looking to start graduate degree courses in medicine soon. have hope. Suraj Pungati (19), a resident of Nagargunda village in Bhamragarh taluka of Gadchiroli, has dashed his own hopes by securing 378 marks out of 720 in NEET.

Speaking to PTI, the student claimed that he would be the first person from his taluka to attend a medical college.

Pungati, a farmer’s son, said that there are more than 60 families in his village where he is the first to take science stream and he is happy that he will now get medical education.

The student, who hails from the state’s particularly vulnerable tribal group ‘Maria Gond’, lost his mother four years ago and has a younger brother who is studying in Class 10.

Studying in a school in Nagpur, Pungati secured 92 per cent marks in her class 10 board exams in 2019 and that’s when she decided to become a doctor.

Another tribal student, Sawan Shilaskar (21), son of a marginal farmer from a small village called Ghota in Dahrani taluka of Melghat area of ​​Amravati district, has scored 294 out of 720 in NEET.

The journey was tough for both the students due to their limited means, but they got a ray of hope when they came to know about free coaching classes by MBBS students and doctors in Pune through an NGO called Lift for Upliftment (LFU). I found out. By the students and alumni of BJ Medical College there.

Dr Ketan Deshmukh, co-founder of LFU, told PTI that LFU works for the underprivileged and marginalized students, who do not have access to private coaching.

Pungati attended free coaching classes offered daily by LFU before the COVID-19-induced lockdown, and later attended virtual classes from an ashram school in Hemalkasa, Gadchiroli, due to a lack of internet and phone connectivity in her village. was forced to.

Shilaskar, whose father works on someone else’s land and has a meager income, came to know about the free coaching classes from his superiors.

He mostly studied for NEET online under the guidance of LFU mentors from his village.

Deshmukh said that he has a special batch named ‘Ulgulan’ for the students of Melghat region since 2017.

“Most of the consultants at LFU are senior medical students. This year 25 of our students, including three from the tribal areas of Maharashtra, will take admission in medical colleges. Many of those who received training at LFU are now studying in medical colleges and some Join us as a teaching faculty.”