From son of daily wage earners to resident of Gadchiroli tribal settlement: how students of Pune's BJMC helped them crack NEET

Indian Express

21-07-2025

At the very modest house of Abhishek Ghule in a village in Maharashtra's Jalna, the excitement refuses to die.
Abhishek, the son of Rajendra and Geetabai, has become a celebrity of sorts in his Pokhari village under the Bhokhardan taluka since he cleared the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) UG, the results of which were declared in June.
Abhishek is among the 75 students, who were coached by Lift for Upliftment (LFU), of whom 45 cleared NEET. Hailing from financially disadvantaged families, these students have overcome adversity to prepare for one of the toughest examinations in the country.
Started in 2015, LFU is primarily run by students from the B J Government Medical College in Pune, who conduct state-wide entrance exams to select students for the free coaching classes they offer to meritorious but financially disadvantaged students. Currently, LFU is led by students Harish Khanware, Piyush Walunjkar, Punit Sahuji, and Pratiksha Shinde, all of whom are from B J Medical College.
Abhishek has enough score to get him into a government medical college. 'I am the first person in our family to crack the entrance test. It seems like a dream come true. Now all of us are waiting for the results of the counselling, which will decide the college I will attend,' said Abhishek, whose parents are daily wage earners.
When he was in Class 12, Sushil Mane's father, Amritkumar, was bedridden by paralysis. A resident of Borgaon village in the Walva taluka of Sangi, his mother Prabhabati managed to keep the family going by working at the local cooperative dairy.
'Since my childhood, I have seen my family suffer in want of medical aid. So, I wanted to become a doctor to help my family,' said Sushil.
A relative had forwarded him a poster of LFU, which helped him realise his dream. 'Their batches had already started, but looking at my results and my interest, they allowed me to enrol,' he said.
Like Ghule, Mane is also waiting for the admissions. 'I hope I get a college in Pune or Miraj. It would be nearer to my home,' he said.
LFU's Ulgulaan batch is run for tribal students, especially in the state's Dharashiv district. Of the 45 students who cleared the NEET UG 2025, 15 are from remote tribal areas, such as Gadchiroli, who will secure admission in medical colleges.
Devdas Wachami, who lives in a small village of Karampalli in the Bhamragad taluka of the Gadchiroli district, was in Class 6 when his grandmother's kidneys failed. Walchami said she had to suffer due to a lack of proper medical treatment.
'Financially, we are not that well off, so it was really difficult for us to get treatment on time. That was the trigger which got me thinking about pursuing medicine,' he said.
Talking about his experience, Wachami said the best thing was the peer-to-peer coaching they got at LFU.
'Our teachers were students of B J Medical College, and for tribal students, they even talked about the skills necessary to cope. Most of us had not seen anything other than our villages. This coaching helped us,' he said.
As he prepares to enter a medical college in either Mumbai or Pune, Wachami knows that in the long run, he will return to his village. 'If anything, I can never forget the pain my grandmother suffered from. That's enough for me to get back,' he said.