BHUBANESWAR: All the 19 medical aspirants from poor backgrounds, who were undergoing coaching free of cost at the city-based Zindagi Foundation, have cracked the NEET-2020.
The foundation is run by Ajay Bahadur Singh, who set it up in 2017 to help financially-challenged students of Bhubaneswar crack the examination.
Amid the pandemic, the students braved many odds but neither poverty nor Covid-19 could dampen their zeal to achieve the goal of becoming doctors.
Khirodini Sahoo, daughter of a labourer in Angul district, said she had cracked an entrance to get selected for coaching at the foundation.
During the lockdown, she had to return home. However, the foundation provided a smartphone to her and other students to ensure that their coaching does not stop.
Khirodini, who secured 657 marks of the total 720, expects to get admission to the SCB Medical College this year. Singh said the thought of starting the Zindagi programme came to him when he had to abandon his dream of becoming a doctor due to financial constraints.
“The idea behind setting up the foundation is to ensure all resources including coaching, lodging, food, study materials and remedial classes reach the students hailing from poor families,” Singh said.