Karnataka   

With a little help they too can reach the top

Bidar: Afreen Fatima never thought she would complete high school education when her father died a few years ago. Now she is a proud member of the first batch of students in the new government medical college in Bidar. She has obtained a merit seat. Her school and some philanthropists have agreed to pay her fees.

Ms. Fatima’s father, Syed Anees-ul-Haq, was a construction labourer in Aurad Sirsi village. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and two sons.

The Allama Iqbal Education Society, which runs Shaheen School in Bidar, has adopted the family. Bangalore-based Danish Trust has also supported her. The girl worked hard and brought laurels to the school and her village.

“I could have never dreamt of studying medicine if the college had not come up in Bidar,” she says. She plans to complete her post-graduation and then teach medicine.

Similar is the case of Mohammad Sharief Ahmed. He belongs to the Qureshi community which has not produced a graduate in the district. This boy from Nirna village used to walk nine kilometres to a government school for his studies. His father sold cattle to support his education. The boy also received some financial support from the school. He now plans to work part-time to support his stay in Bidar. He chose the medical seat in Bidar in preference to a seat in a government engineering college in Bangalore. “Poverty made me think I would end up being a butcher like my father. But now I will be learning surgery. That is a definite change,” he says. However, these two are not the only students benefited by the Government’s decision to start the college in this backward district. Of the 100 students who joined the college, 40 are from Bidar district. Of them, 28 are from the city and 12 from the taluks.

“The most significant thing about this college is that it has given a chance to poor students in rural areas to study medicine. Earlier, only sons and daughters of doctors and government servants would become doctors. Now any bright student can dream of being a doctor.

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