Son of NREGA labourers cracks NEET, father says dream came true
Krishna Kumar, 18, got all India rank (AIR) 911 in the OBC category of NEET 2018
Krishna Kumar is a happy man. The 18-year-old, who got all India rank (AIR) 911 in the NEET 2018, is happy that he did not let down his parents, who have been working as MGNREGA labourers to help fulfil his dream of becoming a doctor.
Kumar is the only person in Sakhwara panchayat in Rajasthan’s Dholpur district to clear the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test. His parents said they wanted him to unshackle himself out of the misery they had faced in life.
“My long-awaited dream has come true... I am proud my son would be the first doctor in my panchayat,” said Munna Lal, who has studied till Class 5. Kumar’s mother Rambodhi Devi is illiterate.
“My father has 10 bigha agricultural land in the village, but he and my mother worked as MGNREGA labourers when family faced financial crunch to support my education,” says Kumar.
Since there was no senior secondary school in the village Kumar had to travel 20 km daily to continue his studies after Class 10. “The power supply in the village was not round-the-clock and often there was no light in the night time, I would study under kerosene lamp,” Kumar says.
The 18-year-old moved to Kota, a city more than 300 km away from his home, which has a number of coaching institutes, in 2015 to prepare for the entrance test.
“I returned to my village after spending 4-5 months in Kota. But my parents gave me courage to continue with my coaching, after which I returned to Kota,” he said.
Kumar found success on his third attempt, securing an All India rank of 3,099 in the recently-held NEET.
He said he wants to contribute to develop health facilities in rural India, possibly because he does not want other students to struggle with limited resources as he had in his preparation. “I want to be a cardiac surgeon after completing MBBS. I have heard a lot about shortage of cardiologists in the country,” Kumar said.
Naveen Maheshwari, director of Allen Career Institute in Kota where Kumar studied, said the young boy’s success in cracking the NEET was a result of his unyielding determination and hard work. “That is why despite having failed in his first two attempts he never gave up and eventually succeeded.”
Maheshwari said Kota institutes have paved the way to medical and engineering colleges for thousands of students from rural areas.
A total of 13.36 lakh candidates had registered for this year’s NEET. However, 12.69 lakh candidates appeared for the test, of whom 7.14 lakh cleared the test.
NEET is conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education for admission to MBBS and BDS courses in colleges run with the approval of the Medical Council of India and the Dental Council of India. The test is not for admission to institutions established through an Act of Parliament such as AIIMS and JIPMER in Puducherry.