NEET 2023: From Painter Umar to Dr Umar, life comes full circle for Pulwama boy

SRINAGAR: Umar Ahmad Ganie was busy painting walls when he received a call about NEET results. He immediately logged on to the website only to find his name on the list. His eyes welled up with tears as he became the first person in his family to crack a competitive exam.

Coming from a poor family in Zaggigam village in the Pulwama district, Umar works as a painter to support his family. Such is the financial condition of the family that he bought a cell phone during the exam days to prepare for NEET.

“I had no phone till class 12. I had to buy one for online learning,” Umar told The Kashmir Monitor.

A student of a Government Higher Secondary School, he studied at home for NEET since he could not afford expensive coaching. “My father is a bandsaw laborer. My brother too is a labourer. I double up as a wall painter to support my family. There was no money for school education, not to talk of expensive coaching. It was a daily struggle which paid off,” he said.

Umar scored 601 marks in NEET and hopes to get into Government Medical College, Jammu, or Srinagar. “I used to work as a painter for the day. After 6 pm, I used to study till midnight. Sometimes it stretched late at night. I used to go to work early in the morning and rush back home before dusk so that I could study,” he said.

All roads seem to be leading to Zaggigam today. Friends, relatives, and well-wishers made a beeline to his home to congratulate Umar. “Our family is very simple and we do not have that educational background. Today everyone is happy. They could not believe that I have cracked the NEET,” he said.

Umar is not an isolated case. This year, students from humble backgrounds cracked NEET in Kashmir. Two daughters of Kuigam Imam made their father proud by cracking the NEET on the first attempt. Likewise, the twin sisters of Srinagar too scored big in NEET. A girl from remote Budgam village too made the family proud by cracking the competitive exam.

NTA said a total of 20.38 lakh candidates had registered for the exam in the country. Of which 11.45 lakh qualified.

( Photos by Qayoom Khan)