Resident of a remote village in Rajasthan's Jodhpur district, Champa Ram recently secured admission in IIT Madras - Civil Engineering department after beating all odds, including losing his mother and father while he was preparing for the IIT.

An alumnus of Satya Bharti School, Jatibhandu, Jodhpur, his story is both inspiring as well as heartening. Champa Ram passed class VIII from Satya Bharti School and joined Navodaya Vidyalaya.

He scored a perfect CGPA of 10 in Class X Board Exams in 2017. Unfortunately, in the same year, he lost his father. Despite the irreplaceable loss, he went on to score 93.6% in his Class XII Board Exams. Adversity didn't leave him yet as his ailing mother passed away during his preparations for the IIT JEE entrance exams, leaving the responsibility of running the family on the shoulders of his eldest brother.

Despite all these difficulties, he worked hard and passed the entrance exam, scoring AIR 11,036 and Category Rank 2180, this year. He secured a seat to pursue Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He is now looking forward to starting his online classes from 23rd November, 2020, with a basic smartphone, gifted by his brother.

Champa Ram belonged to a remote village in Rajasthan where education was not the norm until Bharti Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Bharti Enterprises, opened a school in the area.

Bharti Foundation currently runs 28 Satya Bharti Schools in Jodhpur and Pali districts of Rajasthan providing free quality education to over 6,200 rural marginalised children. In addition, Bharti Foundation is supporting over 150 government schools under its Quality Support Program.

Congratulating Champa Ram, Mamta Saikia, CEO, Bharti Foundation, said, "We are working to improve the accessibility and quality of education across rural India. At Bharti Foundation, we believe all children are capable of excelling. Our focus is all round development which plays a vital role in overcoming challenges and transforming them into good human beings and role models for society ".

"In the coming months, our focus would remain on ensuring quality education for the children studying in our rural schools and to incorporate use of phone based education given the current circumstances when schools cannot open due to Covid-19," she said.

"We are extremely proud of Champa Ram for getting one step closer to his dream of becoming an engineer. This is a testimony to the inherent strength of young people of our country in realising their potential, no matter what," she added.

Champa Ram, speaking to IANS, said, "I used to study for 6-8 hours after school hours in 10th and 12th class. After hearing about Satya Bharti School, my family was elated as I received free education, free uniform and in fact everything was taken care by the school. I am grateful to Bharti Foundation for providing me this platform to study and attain greater heights," he added.
(IANS)