Homeless waste picker’s son cracks NEET, set to join MBBS under 7.5% quota

COIMBATORE: He has no money, no home to call his own, nor a mother to nurture him with love. But what nineteen-year-old S Haripriyan from Edappadi in Salem has in abundance is grit and resilience, which have put him on the path to becoming a doctor.

The teen, son of a recyclable waste collector, is now all set to enter the portals of Government Kallakuruchi Medical College Hospital after cracking NEET by securing 432/720 to grab admission under the 7.5 per cent horizontal reservation for government school students.

Having lost his mother at a young age, the boy, who does not have a house, grew up on the streets with his 59-year-old father, Shanmugam. “As we don’t have a house, I stayed with my father in an alley in our neighbourhood,” he recalled.

That is when Parvesh Zubair, a village administrative officer (VAO) in Edappadi, saw Haripriyan studying under a streetlight and in front of closed shops in the market area. Zubair took him to his house and motivated him to achieve his goal.

“Moved by my plight, he accommodated me in his house. My father still sleeps in bus stands or road margins and has food from Amma Canteens,” said Haripriyan.

Even while he was a student, he used to work part-time in a bakery after school hours and during holidays to meet basic expenses and squirrel away a tiny amount as savings. “Then, with that money, I bought a mobile phone to browse the internet for educational purposes.”

When he expressed his wish to study medicine after scoring an impressive 487/600 in Class 12, the teachers at Edappadi Government Boys Higher Secondary School helped him join a private NEET coaching institute in Rasipuram in Namakkal by arranging a sponsor.

The first attempt was not successful, but this is not one to give up that easily. He prepared again and managed to crack the entrance exam on his second attempt.

Soon after attending the competitive exam, he returned to the bakery, now as a daily wager who was paid Rs 400 a day. “I have stopped going to work, as I am occupied with obtaining documents like income certificate, ration card, and others that have to be submitted to the college during admission,” he added.

Even though the government bears the entire cost of medical education for candidates under the 7.5 per cent quota, the boy is apprehensive after exhausting the few thousand rupees due to some unforeseen medical expenses. “But my teachers have asked me not to worry and assured help,” said Haripriyan.

“My father’s joy knew no bounds over my achievement, and he felt proud of me. My school celebrated by erecting a big cutout in front of the school. I am also thankful to Parvesh Zubair ‘Anna’ for taking care of me,” he said.

“He is staying with our family; we took care of him like our own son,” Zubair said.

N Mariyappan, a teacher at Edappadi Government Boys Higher Secondary School, describes Haripriyan as a bright student who used to secure the top rank in class. “Our former students studying in the medical college have apprised us of the expenses in the college. We are planning to raise funds to support him,” he said.