Kashmiri students from remote areas qualify NEET

Story by ATV | Posted by Aasha Khosa | Date 07-11-2021

Shahid Farooq

Rizwan Shafi Wani/Srinagar

Tanmay Gupta from Jammu and Kashmir, who studied in a prestigious Delhi School, is one of the three top scorers in the National eligibility entrance test (NEET) yet there are many others living in far off villages and towns of the union territory who have qualified for the national examination for admission into Medical Colleges.

Meet Shahid Farooq Butt, who hails from Lalpura village in Kupwara, a place with an erratic power supply and poor connectivity. His success has brought a wave of happiness to his family and relatives.

"My parents and brother have been instrumental in my success," Shahid said. “Without them, such success would not have been possible. My idol is my elder brother.” His brother is a lecturer and Shahid says he always supported him.

Shahid Farooq has scored 660 out of 720 marks and is on the way to fulfilling his dream of becoming a doctor and helping people. "The first time I wrote the NEET, I didn't qualify and I was depressed. At that time, my family encouraged me to pull myself out of that situation,” he said.

"After that, I prepared a timetable and followed it religiously. I studied for more than 7 hours a day.” He says sharing the secret of his success.

Shahid, the son of a police employee, says we have to stop being content in our small world and; must find our goals and move forward in life.

He said the students in many parts of Kashmir don’t have the facilities and these should be made available to those living in remote areas like his place.

Interestingly, around a dozen students from this froentier district have qualified the NEET this time, the Greater Kashmir newspaper reported.

Izhaan Shabir Mir, a resident of Banihal in Jammu, has secured 692 out of 720 points achieving 358th All India Rank (AIR) in the NEET said “consistency” is important to crack this competitive exam.

“It was my first attempt and I was focused on my target since class 11th,” said Mir. He had joined a private coaching school in Jammu for preparing for the NEET.

Ansab Moonisa, a resident of Tral in south Kashmir is another successful candidate from Kashmir.

“My daughter was completely involved with her studies since class 9th and she was focused on clearing the NEET,” says Dr Shabir Ahmed Shah, Ansab’s father.

She had been attending a coaching institute in Srinagar from class 11th and would study at home without even a break” he said.

Seven other students who did their coaching at the coaching academy has qualified NEET UG-2021 examination.

Maleeha Zahoor from Kangan, central Kashmir, has cleared the examination without attending coaching classes. She only joined the popular online mock tests of several coaching academies in the last quarter before the examination.

“I believe self-study helped me qualifying the NEET examination,” she said. “There is no specific time for a student to study while preparing for the exam. “Once you feel you can grasp what you study, that time you should concentrate on what you are reading,” she said.

Suhail Ashraf from Kuzwera, Chadoora in central Kashmir has cleared the NEET in his second attempt.

“Last year I could not qualify; this year I did not repeat the mistakes that I committed last time,” Suhail said.

“During my first attempt I did a crash course in a coaching institute and this year I joined Mission-e coaching center,” Suhail said.

Suhail said he did not study the NCERT books and it proved to be a costly mistake. “NCERT books and participating on mock tests help the students to qualify the exam,” he said.

Peerzada Saiyib Javeed from Srinagar has also qualified for the NEET. An alumnus of Burn Hall school, he studied at a coaching institute.

“My sister and teachers helped me in time management and I received guidance from my teachers,” Saiyib said.

Around a dozen students from the Kupwara district have qualified NEET UG-2021 exam as well.