MBBS dream on track as help pours in for child bride
“Government hostel for medical colleges are free for MBBS students from the second year, but first year MBBS students don’t get government hostel so I have to shift to a private hostel outside SPMC College where the monthly fees, including meals, is ₹6,000
Help is pouring in for child bride Rupa Yadav, who cleared NEET 2017 this year and secured admission in the Sardar Patel Medical College (SPMC), Bikaner.
On August 10, HT reported how the 21-year-old, who managed to arrange ₹2,500 for admission, is now facing problems arranging funds to pay for hostel fees and other expenses.
“Government hostel for medical colleges are free for MBBS students from the second year, but first year MBBS students don’t get government hostel so I have to shift to a private hostel outside SPMC College where the monthly fees, including meals, is ₹6,000,” Rupa had told HT on Wednesday.
Rupa said that Bikaner district collector Anil Gupta and SPMC principal Dr RP Aggarwal met her on Thursday and told her that her hostel and tuition fees will be exempted till the completion of the course and financial assistance will also be given.
“My problems have been solved to a great extent,” she said.
When contacted, Bikaner district collector Anil Gupta said that they have received instructions from the chief minister’s office to help Rupa. “We have asked her to open a bank account and the administration will deposit money according to Rupa’s educational requirement. Her tuition and hostel fees have been exempted. Also, free books from the book bank will be provided to Rupa,” said Gupta.
Meanwhile, Rupa said that Allen Career Institute, Kota, where she took coaching for NEET, had informed her that her monthly scholarship has been increased from ₹1,500 to ₹5,000. “The institute management has decided to increase the monthly scholarship to ₹5,000 for a year and after that, she will get ₹1,500 as monthly scholarship for the next three years,” media marketing head of Allen Career Institute, Kota, Nitesh Kumar Sharma said.
“Since Rupa has been admitted to the medical college this month, we will soon dispatch Rupa’s ATM card too,” said Nitesh.
Meanwhile, a couple, Dr Banwari Lal Jat, who works at the Food Corporation of India in Chhattisgarh and his wife, Dr Saroj Chaudhary, an agriculture scientist with Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bhavnagar (Gujrat), had provided ₹5,000 last month after her selection in NEET 2017.
“After Wednesday’s media coverage, Banwari Lal Jat called me again and said that they are ready to extend financial whenever required,” said Rupa.
Talking to HT on the phone from Raipur, Jat said that he is a native of Parmanpura village in Jaipur.
Parmanpura is near Rupa’s village and he and his wife have assured Rupa of bearing her educational expenses.
Another helping hand came when the executive director of Lupin Human Welfare & Research Foundation, Sitaram Gupta, who is from Bharatpur, said that he wants to help Rupa after reading about her in Hindustan Times.
“I will talk to Rupa and transfer around ₹10,000 to ₹15000 immediately and will also provide further assistance to her,” he said.
Rupa’s success story is nothing short of a fairytale. She was in class 3 when she got married to 12-year-old Shankar Lal, then a seventh-standard student, during the wedding of elder sister Rukma Devi. The sister wedded Shankar’s elder brother.
She moved into to her husband’s home after writing the Class 10 exam.
She was with her in-laws when the results were declared. She scored 84%.