Manipal Varsity Gives Scholarships Worth Rs 3 cr to 15 MBBS Aspirants

Divvy Kant Upadhyay, Manipal
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi/Manipal (GA)

Udupi, Jun 17: On top of the world. That’s exactly how 15 students aspiring to be doctors felt on Tuesday June 16 at the Manipal University (MU). Thanks to their meritorious performance in MU’s National Online Entrance Exam, they won scholarships worth Rs 20 lac each.

MU has reserved 15 MBBS seats worth Rs 3 crore for those who make it to the top of the Merit List in the entrance exam. These students receive ‘Freeships’, which means a complete hundred percent tuition fee waiver for the entire course. The only thing that the University expects is that they continue their hardwork and maintain their performance above the 70 percent level in exams throughout the course.

Excited parents and students spoke exclusively to Daijiworld after they won their free seats. For most of them it was a pleasant surprise as it becomes clear only on the counselling day how many top rankers come forth to stake their claims on the free seats.

An emotionally overwhelmed D R Prakash from Hyderabad said he was happy that his daughter Keertika Yadav will become a doctor on scholarship that was based on merit. A beaming Keertika, waiting impatiently to convey the news to family members at home, said she never expected to get the free seat. Sharing her emotion was Krishna Sirvi from Surat, Gujarat who is the first person in three generations of his ‘business’ family to have taken science after Grade 10 and made up his mind to do Medicine. His brother like all other candidates had brought the demand draft for the entire first year fees only to realize that all he needed was a few thousand rupees to be given as security deposit. It was no less than a lottery. But it was hard earned and fiercely fought for.

Unlike others, Sanal Fernandes from Mangalore had a calm and cool day. He had obtained the 15th Rank in the Merit List and he knew there were only 15 free seats. Thus even if the 14 ranks above him claimed their right; he would still have his chance. He now joins his sister who is already pursuing her second year in KMC Mangalore.

It is said a stitch in time saves nine. For Nagendra Udupa and his daughter Sahana it could have saved a lot- almost six lac rupees. Eventhough they hailed from Udupi, owing to some confusion they arrived a little late to the Counselling Hall and lost the chance to claim the Free seat that they were entitled to. Nagendra who has toiled hard for more than two decades in the gulf to support his family back home is proud of his daughter’s achievement but appeared dejected to have lost the chance due to laxity. Sahana of course is still happy. She has already secured a free seat in Manipal through the CET quota. Had she come on time, she could have claimed the scholarship from the University and thus given the chance to some student waiting for a free CET seat. But as fate had it, the seat was meant for someone else. Udit Mishra from a small town close to Raipur in Chattisgarh got the last scholarship seat. Udit’s father was too delighted to comment in detail. All he could muster to say was “It couldn’t have been better” and off he went to call his son and wife to give them the good news.

For some, their choice over-rules the offer at hand. Muralidhar Rao hailing from Bangalore but settled in Mumbai came along with son Archit for the counselling. So determined was Archit to take admission at the Manipal campus that he forwent the scholarship seat offered to him at Mangalore. Though Muralidhar apparently gave into his son’s demand, he was full of praise about the transparent manner in which the counselling was conducted. Sharing his views were a doctor-couple from Guntur who came with their son Vivek Reddy. “Being a doctor I know how good an institution Manipal is, thus I am very happy that my son got a merit seat here” said Vivek’s father.

Happiness knew no bounds for two fathers who came all alone for the counselling. Ashok Geriani from Jaipur got the free seat for his daughter Disha; Jaswant Singh, a Tehsil clerk from the border town of Ferozpur in Punjab got the free seat for his son Surendra. While Disha cracked the entrance exams despite having studied in the Middle East, Surendra got the first rank in Punjab PMT exams but wants to come to Manipal to stay along with his brother who is studying here.

The most curious case of the day was undoubtedly the Dutta twins from Kolkata. Blood proved to be thicker on this day when both were offered free seats thanks to their brilliant performance. But while one took up the last seat in KMC Manipal, the other was being offered a seat in KMC Mangalore. Not having stayed apart ever since their birth and throughout school life, the Dutta brothers decided to remain together. So while Udbuddha took up his free seat in Manipal, Uddeepta left his free seat in Mangalore and took up a paid seat in Manipal. Interestingly the twin brothers scored exactly the same marks in their Grade 12 exams and just had a one mark difference in their entrance exam results.