MENTOR & GUIDE
SANDEEP MEHTO 33 FOUNDER, BHARAT CALLING, PATHROTA, MP
Born in Pathrota village of Hoshangabad district in Madhya Pradesh, Sandeep Mehto studied in the village primary school till class V. He then moved to a boarding school in Bhopal as opportunities in the village were limited. After finishing school, Mehto went to the government engineering college in Vidisha, graduating as an electrical engineer in 2009. The same year, he enrolled at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, for an MA in Social Entrepreneurship. It was here, in the first year of the master’s programme, that he and his classmate John Basumatary chanced upon the idea of Bharat Calling. “While at TISS,” says Mehto, “we had to submit a pilot project on a social problem. It became the basis for Bharat Calling.” The duo took up guiding 50 students in and around Pathrota out of whom 30 secured admissions to colleges. It was something Mehto himself had faced and knew could be overcome with the right guidance and support system. And that’s where Bharat Calling comes in.
It provides guidance and advocacy to help rural students gain admission to reputed colleges and universities. It works with 150 schools, mostly government-run, in Hoshangabad district. Mehto first visits the schools and speaks to students to gauge their aptitude to find out what they want to do. He then puts them through an aptitude test to ascertain their inclination and conveys it to them. “Students from rural backgrounds,” he says, “do not know what they want to do and even when they find out, they require a network to stay put in the place where they are studying.” He knows of many students who have quit because they felt intimidated in the city.
The chat with students is carried out in parts or sessions. It involves seven interactions, initially spread over two-and-a-half months, but now conducted only in 15 days, thanks to Mehto’s upgradation of methodology. He also uses psychological tools to ascertain a child’s academic bent.
In the eight years of its existence, Bharat Calling has secured admission for 440 students into institutes of higher learning. They are as diverse as the music university in Gwalior, the Hari Singh Gour National University in Sagar, the Guru Ghasidas National University in Bilaspur, TISS in Mumbai, the Devi Ahilya University in Indore, among others. “These 440 students are now helping 50 others to secure admissions,” says Mehto.
“After my graduation, I was not very clear what I wanted to do. Bharat Calling helped me prepare for admission to TISS” Vandana Pradhan, a resident of Itarsi who did an MA in library and information sciences at TISS and now works as a professional assistant at ISB, Hyderabad