A ble initiative in Odisha akin to famed Super 30 experiment of mamatician Anand Kumar, is giving wings to wards of humble vegetable sellers, fishermen, and marginal farmers, who crack NEET exam to qualify for mission in medical colleges.

'Super 30' for Medical Aspirants

benign effort has been me by a n-governmental organisation through project "Zindagi". man behind success story is Ajay Bahur Singh, who h to abandon his medical studies to sell tea and sharbat (squash) to sustain his family who were undergoing financial hardship. Zindagi programme launched in year 2016 in Odisha's capital Bhubaneswar has at present 19 meritorious students, both girls and boys, hailing from ecomically poor families.

Under project, talented students of poor financial background selected through a statewide screening test, are provided free food, lodging, and teaching to help m become doctors.

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Astounding Results

Fourteen students of its students who h cracked NEET in 2018, 12 out of which acquired mission in government medical colleges of Odisha, were hosted by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in July last to commemorate ir achievements.

A PTI reporter, who saw a class in progress at foundation earlier this week, interacted with pupils, some wards of vegetable sellers, daily labourers, fishermen, and marginal farmers. Even in ir dreams, se students h t thought of becoming medicos, as it demanded expensive study materials and coaching.

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Wings to Fly 

Giving wings to ir dream are Kshirodini Saho, daughter of a marginal farmer of Angul district, Rekha Rani Bagh, daughter of a labourer of Koraput, Smruti Ranjan Senapati, son of a truck driver of Bhrak district, Satyajit Sahoo, son of a vegetable seller of Panagarh, and Manjit Bala whose far catches fish in East Malkangiri to support  family.

But, financial hardship has been deterrent to confidence of children to do something big.

"When a tea seller can become a Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) why can t we become a doctor?" said Subhalaxmi Sahoo, daughter of a small farmer of Khurda district.

ir teachers -- Mukul Kumar, Manas Kumar Nayak, and Durga Pras -- said that for m its a situation of "do or die", eir crack medical exams or return to a life of misery.

"We dedicate initial 15-20 classes to prepare m mentally that y have abundant talent to crack National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) competing with students of expensive schools and attending coaching classes in reputed names in field," Mukul Kumar, who teaches Botany, told PTI.

"All of m have a strong desire to achieve ir goals," said Zoology teacher Durga Pras.

Zahid Akhtar, coordinator of Zindagi programme, said boys and girls are hosted in separate hostels run by group, where y get simple but nutritious food free of cost. Senior coordinator of Zindagi foundation -- Shiven Singh Choudhry - said it's a one year programme which starts from first week of July after completing mission formalities.

ecomic condition is a must criterion for selection of students as aim of project is to help wards of poor families do big in world, Choudhry said.

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Enlightened from Personal Experiences

founder of Zindagi Foundation, Ajay Bahur Singh, said he is doing all this to fulfil his own shattered dream of becoming a doctor. Singh h to abandon his studies due to financial problems gripping his family after his far developed a kidney problem in 1990 when he was preparing for his medical exams.

"In order to meet medical bills of far and meet needs of family, we sold jewelleries and house in Deogarh (w in Jharkhand)," Singh said.

"But, it was t eugh as all money ended in kidney transplant and meeting or medical expenses of far. With help coming from any quarter, I started selling tea and Sharbat at shravani mela in temple town of Baba Baidyanath, which is among 12 'jyotirlinga in country" Singh, in 40s, said in a choked voice.

After death of his far, Singh said he moved to Patna and started giving private tuition to students to run family and also keep alive his love for education. " private tuitions ran successfully and soon I got an opportunity to start a school up to Plus two level in Odisha. And with earnings, I launched Zindagi foundation to help poor children like me achieve big which I could t do," he said.

" motivation to start Zindagi programme came from a personal experience when I encountered a girl selling rose be outside world famous Lord Jagannath temple at Puri, who me a fervent request to buy her stuff so that she can finance her studies," he said.

Singh said Super 30 founding mamatician Anand Kumar has been his inspiration. He said he has t fixed strength of his classroom at Zindagi foundation.

"It all depends how many genuine students of deprived section I get and resource to finance ir fooding, lodging and educational needs. Tomorrow if my earning increases from school and coaching institutes I will definitely increase numbers," he ded.

Zindagi foundation chief said though re was immediate plan to expand his programme in or parts of Odisha or start a similar school in or states. Although he stated, "I wish to launch such an experiment in Bihar and Jharkhand, full of such students whose talent goes waste for want of ecomic resources of ir families."

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