19 underprivileged students from Zindagi Foundation in Odisha clear NEET exam

All 19 poor students from Zindagi Foundation, a Bhubaneshwar-based foundation which seeks to teach underprivileged medical aspirants, have cleared the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

One of the students, Khirodini Sahoo has scored 657 out of 720 marks in the examination.

Speaking to , Sahoo said: "I belong to a very poor family, and my father works as labourer for other farmers in my village with a maximum earning of Rs 4,000-5,000 per month. Somehow, I completed my +2 from government schools and I had a dream to pursue medical studies. However, my family could not afford the cost of coaching. I tried on my own but was not able to clear NEET. After that, somebody in my village told us about Zindagi, I appeared for the test and got selected."

Sahoo further said: "I was provided with all facilities. In the times of COVID-19, I had to vacate the hostel and go back home. My village did not have a network and neither could I buy a phone to pursue online classes. I got in touch with Ajay sir, and he helped me out. So I was able to achieve such a good score and expect to get a medical seat in good government medical college of Odisha."

"My father is a small farmer. I came here to study during lockdown and my accommodation, food expenses were taken care of. I am thankful," said another student.

The founder of the Zindagi Foundation, Ajay Bahadur Singh, had to give up his dream of becoming a doctor due to financial difficulties.

He founded the Zindagi Foundation in 2017. The thought behind the foundation was to ensure that all resources were getting mobilised for the selected bright poor students. The availability of resources like lodging, food, study material, coaching, doubt clearing classes and special teachers were ensured to help the students prepare to realise their dreams of becoming a doctor.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has declared the NEET 2020 results in which Odisha's Soyeb Aftab has secured AIR 1, with 99.99 percentile.

The national-level entrance was conducted on September 13. NEET is an entrance test for medical and allied programmes, being held by the NTA.

( With inputs from ANI )