For 19-year-old tribal girl Anima Minz, from a far off Champa village in Latehar District in Jharkhand, it was not easy to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. Her wish turned into reality when she finally confirmed admission in one of the prestigious government medical colleges in Maharashtra, the Grant Medical College, Mumbai. The journey was not at all easy, but she was never afraid.

Her father works as a migrant labourer in Kerala and her mother manages the household. Poverty, lack of educational resources and a polio stricken leg couldn’t deter her will to not only take up the NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) exam this year but to also perform well in it. She secured the eighth rank in All India Ranking for ST (Scheduled Tribe) category and got a call from the Grant Medical College in Mumbai, through the counselling round that took place on August, 28.

Anima, who is both thrilled and nervous at being in a new city shared her experience of travelling by air for the first time. From a village where there is still no electricity, Anima has made her way to the maximum city to be a doctor. “People in our village have to walk five kilometers to reach the nearest hospital. I have seen people die due to lack of timely treatment and decided that I am going to be a doctor”, said Anima.

Anima wouldn’t have possibly landed in Mumbai for her admission if not for Manoj Kumar’s ‘Super 30 Medical’ that spotted her talent. He is the founder of ‘Super 30 Medical’, Ranchi, an institute that identifies talent from the interior parts of the state and trains them to crack medical entrance examination. Anima was trained for two years in Super 30 Medical, Ranchi for the medical competitive exams and was provided with boarding and lodging in Ranchi, from the institute. “She looked promising from the very first test that she took in her school St. Joseph, Mahuadanr, and then we took her to our academy in 2014”, said Manoj.

Securing a good rank in NEET 2016 was not enough for her as it was just the first part of the hurdles. She spent sleepless nights worrying about the funds for the MBBS studies.

This is when her mentor, Manoj Kumar came to rescue. Manoj Kumar fought tooth and nail to secure admission for the talented girl and made sure that the achievement of Anima comes to light. Thanks to the suo moto cognizance taken by the Jharkhand High Court after it came to know about Anima’s result, the money for admission got arranged. The Chief Minister of Jharkhand Raghubar Das provided Rs. 2 lakhs for her education, so that she could pay the admission fees of Rs. 64,500/- and caution money of Rs. 10,000/- to the Grant College, Mumbai before September 3, 2016. The Chief Minister greeted Anima and wished that she becomes a good doctor and serveS the people of Jharkhand.

Anima looked confident when she talked to this PaGalGuy reporter about her success and said she would like to go abroad for further education and come back to perform her duty as a doctor for the people in her village.

The elated father, Basudev Minz, who accompanied his daughter Anima to Mumbai for her admission, seemed very proud of her. He said, “I try to make sure that all my children get education with whatever resources I have, so that they don’t have to become labourers like me. Today, my daughter has made me proud and it’s because of her I boarded an aircraft for the first time in my life.”

“While, we have managed to save one talented Anima from disappearing in the dark, there are many such students who need our attention”, added Manoj.