Sachin Tendulkar's timely help has helped Dipti Vishvasrao from Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district pursue her dreams of becoming a doctor.
For Dipti, 19, a resident of Zarye village in Ratnagiri district, who is on course towards becoming the first lady doctor from her village, it was both an emotional as well as financial struggle when she took up her first steps towards her goal.
She was brilliant in studies and was always focussed on becoming a doctor, but it was not easy. With the support of her farmer father and housewife mother, she worked hard to prepare for her examinations.
Dipti would travel a kilometre every day during the Covid lockdown so that she could get a network connection to be able to continue her studies online. Her hard work paid rich dividends as Dipti, who performed exceptionally well in her Board examinations and successfully cleared the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), secured admission to the Government Medical College at Akola.
Even after successfully securing admission to a medical college, financial constraints prevented Dipti from pursing her dreams. She was unable to afford the fees and other expenses due to her father's modest income as a farmer.
While relatives contributed to the fees, she was still short of funds for the hostel and other expenses as her dreams of becoming a doctor looked out of reach at that stage.
Just when things were looking bleak, hope arrived in the form of Tendulkar!
The cricketing icon's timely intervention through his Foundation, in association with the Seva Sahyog Foundation, has ensured that Dipti is well on track to becoming the first girl from her village to become a doctor.
Dipti is one of the several beneficiaries of the partnership between Tendulkar's foundation and the Vidyarthi Vikas Yojna, a Seva Sahyog Foundation project. The Vidyarthi Vikas Yojna works towards providing financial support to underprivileged students to pursue higher education. It also provides support to schools in remote areas to upgrade their educational infrastructure.
Over the past 12 years, the Seva Sahyog Foundation has supported 833 students across 4 states and 24 districts.
'I am thankful to the Sachin Tendulkar Foundation for awarding me the scholarship,' Dipti says in the Seva Sahyog Foundation video posted on Twitter.
'The scholarship has lightened all my financial burden which allows me to focus more on my studies. My lifelong dream of becoming a doctor is now moving forward... I promise I will work hard and one day I will be able to help other brilliant students for fulfilling their dreams just as the Sachin Tendulkar Foundation helped.'
