The son of a daily-wage labourer and the daughter of a vegetable seller in Odisha have cracked the medical entrance examination NEET.
Santanu Dalai, a resident of Ganjam district’s Polasara block, has secured an all-India rank of 19,678 in the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test (NEET).
Isrita Panda, a resident of Adava village in Gajapati district, has obtained 622 out of 720 marks and secured an all-India rank of 11,895. Her father sells vegetables in the Adava market.
Both of them cleared the prestigious examination in their second chance as they could not clear the first chance last year. Panda said she worked hard for this and was happy with her marks.
She hopes to get a seat in a premier government medical institute in Cuttack or Berhampur.
Dalai, the son of a daily-wage labourer, wants to take admission also in any government medical college in the state.
"Despite financial difficulties, I did not neglect his study," his father said.
Dalai was also taking coaching in a private institute named Aryabhatta, run by academician Sudhir Rout, free of cost.
Panda's father also said he did not neglect the study of his daughter despite loss on his business last two years due to COVID-19.
"I want her to be a doctor and I extended her help accordingly," he said.
Rout said his institute provided free coaching to some of the poor students over the past few years and arranged funds for their admission.
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