Second chance: How Dantewada DC is giving new life to aspirants' dreams

Vinit Nandanwar, the district collector of the Naxal-hit Chhattisgarh district of Dantewada, managed to clear the civil services exam in his fourth attempt. He understood the value of second chances through his own experiences and decided to ensure that aspirants in the district always get another opportunity to pass these immensely competitive exams.

As per an Indian Express report, in Dantewada, an annual exam takes place through which around 80 students are selected and given free schooling, coaching, boarding and food to prepare for the competitive exams like JEE Mains, JEE Advanced and NEET. The initiative is called ‘Chhoo lo Aasmaan’ or touch the sky.

When it comes to cracking such competitive exams, touching the cut off marks is no less than touching the sky and despite all the hardwork, people fail. And so did many students from the ‘choo lo aasmaan’ group.

As per the report, the district collector started the ‘droppers batch’ to help aspirants who could not clear the exams in the first attempt. This initiative gave wings to the students and yielded immediate results: most of the students who cleared the exams this year were from this ‘droppers batch’.

Out of the 36 aspirants who cleared the exams from the district this year, 19 were from the special batch. Similarly. from the 30 successful girls who passed these exams, 28 were from the special batch.

Nandanwar told the publication how his experience shaped the creation of this batch. “I cleared UPSC in my fourth attempt. I studied from a Hindi-medium school in Jagdalpur and know how important it is for a student to get another opportunity to pursue their dreams. Now, I do not have to say anything; the result speaks for itself.”

“During their childhood, these children used to speak only in their native language, like Gondi, Halbi, Dorli. But there is no dearth of potential in them and it is a big achievement for them to learn Hindi, English and now qualify for such exams. These results will have a ripple effect on other students. We will soon start the second batch this year,” he added.