District collector’s ‘second chance’ initiative helps 47 Dantewada students clear competitive exams

As part of a government initiative called ‘Choo Lo Aasman (touch the sky)’ that started in 2011, 80-odd students from government schools are chosen through an exam every year in Dantewada. They are then trained from class 9 to 12 in two ‘Choo Lo Aasman’ campuses — one for boys and another for girls — and provided free schooling, coaching, boarding and food.

Yet, the burden of preparing for class 12 Boards and competitive exams for medicine or engineering proves too much for many.

To ensure those who couldn’t make it last year got a second chance, Nandanwar started a ‘droppers batch’, under which 64 students got another year of coaching at the special campuses.

The results speak for themselves. From Dantewada, 109 boys, including 29 from the ‘droppers batch’, appeared for competitive exams this year. Thirty-six cleared the exams, including 19 from the special batch. Similarly, 86 girls, including 35 from the ‘droppers batch’, appeared for the exams, out of which 30 were successful, including 28 from the batch.

Said DC Nandanwar: “I cleared UPSC in my fourth attempt. I studied from a Hindi-medium school in Jagdalpur and know how important it is for a student to get another opportunity to pursue their dreams. Now, I do not have to say anything; the result speaks for itself. During their childhood, these children used to speak only in their native language, like Gondi, Halbi, Dorli. But there is no dearth of potential in them and it is a big achievement for them to learn Hindi, English and now qualify for such exams. These results will have a ripple effect on other students. We will soon start the second batch this year.”

Milan Begal, an 18-year-old student from a tribal community, is among four youths from this batch to clear JEE advance this year. He, too, wants to become a collector one day. He said, “The initiative must continue. I could not clear JEE advance last year but I learnt about this batch and decided to work hard for another year. The coaching has been good and our superintendent, Raja Paul sir, has been strict with studies and discipline. He kept pushing and motivating us, which made all the difference. But I think having more teachers for coaching will help and the initiative can be extended to more students.”

For Cheshta Bhardwaj (20), low confidence and health problems created hurdles in her first two years at the special school. “Students here do not even know about competitive exams. I learnt about it from teachers,” she said.

Bhardwaj is now closer to her dream of becoming a cardiologist, having cleared NEET with a score of 335. Her friend from the batch, Neetu Markam, who comes from a tribal community, scored 338.

Also among those who cleared JEE advance are tribal students Aashish Nagesh and Ravindra Kumar Venjam.

“I come from a farmer’s family so we faced some financial constraints. Last time, I could not revise properly because of Covid-19. This initiative has helped me a lot… My father had told me to work hard and achieve as much success as I can. He said I cannot toil like he did on the farm,” said Venjam, who wants to become a civil engineer.

Nagesh, who wants to become an IAS officer, said that before he joined the ‘Choo Lo Aasman’ campus, he switched schools thrice in the hope of better education. “It has been a difficult journey, but I thank the government for their help,” he said.