JEE cracked, why these students from poor homes have PSU executives to thank

NEW DELHI: Tabassum Manzoor, 18, from Adampora in J&K's Kupwara district, will always remember the day she received a call from Indian Oil, asking her to join the company's 'Vidushi' programme in Noida for an all paid 11-month intensive coaching on cracking the IIT joint entrance exam (JEE).

That call is proving to be life-changing for Tabassum, who is among those who cracked the JEE Mains exam this year, the results of which were announced last week.

"I love computers and dreamt of becoming a software engineer. But I had no hope of turning it into reality as my family couldn't afford coaching. There's hardly any information or scope (on career building) in Kashmir. Vidushi has given me a chance to step out of Kashmir and pursue my dream by doing BTech, I have gained friends from different states… it's opened up a new world," she told TOI.


Tabassum is among the 252 successful aspirants, including 64 girls, from poor homes in J&K, Manipur, Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and UP tutored under CSR initiatives of cash-rich energy companies - Indian Oil's 'Vidushi', Central Coalfields Ltd's 'CCL Ke Lal and Ladli', GAIL's 'Utkarsh Super 100' and ONGC's 'Super 30'.

But involvement of company executives in mentoring sets 'Vidushi' and 'CCL Ke Lal and Ladli' programmes apart. "Our programme is for girls only and hands-on. Women alumni of IITs head the batches in Noida and Bhubaneswar Vidushi centres, respectively. CGM Rashmi Govil in Noida and information systems officer Debjani Panda in Bhubaneswar give the girls pep talk. Chairman (Sanjiv Singh) has also visited to motivate them," IndianOil director (HR) Ranjan Kumar Mohapatra said.

CCL chairman Gopal Singh said a clutch of CCL executives based in Ranchi, themselves alumni of the premier institutions, coach the aspirants chosen from project-affected families. CCL also provides the selected students formal schooling for Class XI and XII.

The efforts are yielding rich dividends. Forty-six of the 56 'Vidushi' girls cracked JEE this year. All the 100 aspirants, including 14 girls at GAIL's Kanpur 'Utkarsh' centre sailed through. Its Dwarahat and Srinagar centres in Uttarakhand saw 24 and 26 students out of a batch of 30 each clearing JEE. Four 'Ladlis' and eight 'Ladlas' too made the grade as did 28 out of 30 of ONGC's 'Super 30' programme.

The companies fund the coaching programmes, which include free boarding and lodging as well as other consumables. Indian Oil also provide insurance to cover exigencies during the course. The aspirants are chosen through merit/exam schemes.