Making a Difference: Brothers ferry SSC students to exam centres for free

Suhas Nimhan, a local politician, started an initiative wherein every year, during board exams, his vehicle ferried SSC students to the exam centre free-of-cost.

There are 10 vehicles that ferry nearly 70 students. Express photo

In 1989-90, when Ghanshyam Nimhan, a city-based businessman, was writing his Xth board exam, he noticed that a girl from his class reached the exam centre almost an hour late because she couldn’t find it on time. Unfortunately, despite being brilliant in studies, the girl kept crying and couldn’t write the paper properly.

The incident remained etched in his mind. Over 20 years ago, when he got settled in his business and started doing well, he and his brother Suhas Nimhan, a local politician, started an initiative wherein every year, during board exams, his vehicle ferried SSC students to the exam centre free-of-cost.

Over the years, the number of vehicles kept increasing with his flourishing business. Today, there are 10 vehicles that ferry nearly 70 students residing in areas like Baner, NCL, Pashan and Sus Road. “The incident made me realise how important each minute is when a student is giving an exam. SSC students are already under stress; at least they should be spared from worrying about reaching the exam centre on time. Hence, we started this initiative,” said Ghanshyam.

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Since it has been many years to the initiative, many families and students in the area are already aware about it. The word about the service has spread over the years mainly through word-of-mouth, said Ghanshyam. Besides, all vehicles that carry the students carry a poster that mentions about the free service.

“It is not possible to pick up each student from their homes because a lot of time will get wasted. Hence, we have decided stops for each area, where students residing in that particular area gather together and are picked up by the vehicle. The drivers working with us are also briefed well in advance about the number of students to be picked up from each area,” added Ghanshyam.

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