Meet Umer Ahmad Ganie, 19-year-old Labourer from Kashmir’s Pulwama Who Cracked NEET UG 2023 – News18

A 19-year-old native of Zagigam, a little hamlet in Kashmir’s Pulwama district, Umer Ahmad Ganie pulled off a remarkable accomplishment by passing the only UG medical entrance exam in the country — NEET UG 2023. With a score of 601 out of 720, Umer’s success is a testimonial to his steadfast commitment and hard work given that he comes from a financially strained family. Umer’s mother looked after the household while his father worked as a labourer.

Umer too has been working as a labourer since he was a young boy. He constantly made an effort to maintain a balance between work and education despite the constraints of his job. However, Umer’s NEET results did not come as a surprise to him as he had methodically anticipated his scores before the results were released. “I compared the OMR exam responses with the answer key as soon as they were released. I was certain that my score would be around 615,” Umer recalled with confidence.

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Umer stands out for his unrelenting determination and devotion to his NEET preparations despite having to put in long hours of physically taxing work. “During my classes 11 and 12, I had a day job as a painter. Due to this, I had to concentrate on self-studies in the remaining time,” he told News18.com.

He made the most of every opportunity to focus on his studies. “I had a fixed study schedule from 7 PM to 12 AM and then again from 3 AM to 8 AM. Due to time constraints, I could only take 5-10 mock tests,” Umer added while highlighting his rigorous routine.

Umer’s route to academic success has been nothing less than outstanding as he sought the support of an online coaching platform in class 12 to supplement his self-study efforts. He saved his daily earnings to buy a phone and then prepared for NEET by studying the recorded lessons and relied predominantly on NCERT texts and previous year’s exam papers to identify trends in the questions framed in NEET.

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Furthermore, his remarkable performance in the NEET UG 2023 has not gone unnoticed. He has been appointed as the brand ambassador for the Kashmir region of Physics Wallah with the objective of encouraging and motivating more students in the region to work diligently for success in competitive entrance exams like NEET. Additionally, he has received a Rs 10 lakh scholarship to cover his college fees.

While Umer had no particular college in mind for his education in medicine, he did indicate a wish to stay in Kashmir and complete his MBBS at a medical college in the region. Umer completed his schooling from a government school with a score of 87 per cent in class 10 and 95 per cent in class 12.