In Gujarat, the son of a Golgappa seller has achieved such a feat that every student from the deprived section will continue to take inspiration from for years. Alpesh Rathod, a resident of Meghraj, a tribal area of Aravalli district, had taken MBBS admission from the quota after passing the medical entrance exam NEET two years ago. But due to the disputed caste certificate, the medical college had canceled his admission. He fought a tough legal battle for justice and later approached the Supreme Court. The apex court gave him relief. But Alpesh was not ready to study under any uncertainty or doubt. To fulfill his dream of becoming a big doctor, he decided to give NEET exam again and this time by scoring more marks than before, he got a general category seat in GMERS Medical College, Gandhinagar.
Alpesh Rathod, who cleaned plates in his father’s Golgappa shop, had passed the NEET exam two years ago on the basis of hard work. According to the news of Times of India, Alpesh had scored 613 marks in NEET UG 2022 and got admission in a government medical college in Vadodara under the Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) category. But after about one and a half years of studies, he got a big shock when the state government invalidated his caste certificate. His admission was cancelled. His admission was canceled when he was about to complete the second year of MBBS.
But this shock did not deter Alpesh’s intentions. He took his fight to court. The Gujarat High Court ruled against him. After this, the Supreme Court temporarily intervened and stopped the government and the medical college from closing their studies. The top court issued notice to the state and college authorities and allowed him to continue his medical studies. The court had temporarily stayed the order to cancel the admission.
Even after getting relief from the Supreme Court, Rathore felt that his career was at stake. Instead of living under the shadow of fear and uncertainty, Rathore took a bold decision and decided to appear for the NEET UG exam again.
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Despite tough challenges, he started preparing for NEET UG again. A few weeks before the exams his brother met with a serious accident. Then they had only 40 days left for preparation. Rathore remained firm. On the basis of his high spirits, he scored 644 marks in NEET this time, which secured his seat in the open category.
However, the difficulties are not over yet. Alpesh’s father, who runs a small panipuri shop, will now have to pay higher fees than what he pays in a government medical college. Also, to get back the certificates submitted for his first admission, Rathod will have to pay a heavy fine of Rs 5 lakh to vacate his seat. This is when the seat was already canceled by the government. After his admission is confirmed, Alpesh will be the first person not only in his family living in Uttar Pradesh but also in his entire Kenthwa village to become a doctor.
On his success he said, ‘I did not want any uncertainty to hang over my head.’
