State’s Mukhyamantri Medhabi Chhatra Protsahan Yojana scheme has helped poor, meritorious tribal students from across districts to qualify JEE (Mains). Many have also registered for JEE (Advanced). Prasanjeet Sarkar finds out their stories
ROURKELA: In Arati Barua’s JEE results, her family sees hope for a better and dignified life. The 18-year-old tribal girl from Dhangergudi village in Sundargarh has cleared the JEE (Mains) with National Testing Agency (NTA) score of 56.71 and all India rank (AIR) of 6,910. This has assured her of a seat in the prestigious National Institute of Technology (NIT). Arati is now readying to appear for the JEE (Advanced) and also waiting for the result of NEET. “IIT is a dream and I am giving all efforts to make it come true,” said the girl, who is the third among four siblings.
Her father Sebastian is a farmer by profession who has been toiling for years to save enough to educate his four children. “The money that I earn is not enough to provide good education to all my children but Arati is the brightest among them. If she becomes an engineer or doctor, it will be the first for not just our family but also our village,” said the proud father.
The under-developed Dhangergudi where mobile network connectivity is still a dream and power supply remains erratic, has so far produced only a nurse. Arati understands that the betterment of her family hinges on her academic success and gives almost 18 hours a day to prepare for JEE (Advanced).
Similarly, 19-year-old Rajesh Gagarai of the non-descript Katuria village of Kaptipada block in Mayurbhanj has scored NTA 59.59 and AIR of 10.896 in JEE (Mains) despite all odds. Rajesh, youngest among four siblings, lost his parents at an early age. Growing up in a tribal residential school in his village, he always wanted to pursue an engineering degree and scored well throughout his school. Although NIT seat is assured with his rank, he wants to try to get into an IIT.
Recognising the calibre of these meritorious tribal students, the ST & SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare department provided them free coaching to appear for the JEE and NEET examinations under the Mukhyamantri Medhabi Chhatra Protsahan Yojana scheme. Arati and Rajesh are not the only students to benefit from this initiative of the department. There are 47 others from different parts of the state.
Under the scheme, the department provided preparatory coaching for two years to tribal and SC students of Class XI and XII to help them get through engineering and medical entrance examinations like JEE and NEET. For this, the department has been operating centres of excellence (CoE) in two of its higher secondary schools, one each in Sundargarh and Mayurbhanj.
In 2021, of 4,500 tribal and SC students of 64 schools run by the department, top 200 students including 100 girls were selected for the coaching through an entrance examination. The students enrolled to the CoEs were provided free coaching, books and residential facilities.
Of them, 25 students of the CoE at Turalaga in Sundargarh and 24 at Mayurbhanj have cleared the JEE (Mains) and qualified to appear for the JEE (Advanced)-2023. At Turalaga, Chandrakanti Dehuri topped with an NTA score of 69.59 and AIR of 6,910, while 13 others got NTA scores between 66.41 and 51.46 with AIR from 8,026 and 13,849. The other 11 got NTA scores between 47.90 and 38.03 with AIR from 15,981 to 20,536.
A majority of these students have appeared for the NEET and registered for the JEE (Advanced) exam. They said clearing the JEE (Mains) has given them the confidence to go for JEE (Advanced).
Sundargarh District Welfare Officer Pabitra Mohan Pradhan said this is no mean feat for these tribal students considering their socio-economic and family backgrounds. He said their success would inspire other tribal students to work hard in studies and dream big. The government has provided them necessary support and they did not disappoint.