LUCKNOW: It’s raining funds for Lucknow’s 13-year-old child prodigy Sushma Verma who has been enrolled to MSc Microbiology at Lucknow University. After lyricist Javed Akhtar offered financial assistance to the girl, another person settled in USA spoke to Sushma’s father Tej Bahadur on Sunday suggesting ways to help the wonder kid. Another financial aid has come from Abhishek Patil from Kolhapur who runs a charitable organisation SKA Foundation.
Working with the Microsoft Corporation, Rafat Sarosh spoke to Manoj Dixit of Lucknow University. The motive behind Sarosh assisting Sushma lies in the fact that his father, a former LU student, faced similar crisis around five decades back. In his conversation with Dixit, Rafat said when his father was studying in Lucknow University, he went through a tough time till rank strangers came up to help him financially.
“I feel fortunate to help Sushma and her family,” said Rafat. If Sushma’s fee is being taken care of by others, Rafat plans to send Rs 5,000 every month for at least a year to bear other expenses. According to Dixit, Rafat has also offered technological help in the form of laptop and other software to the girl. Rafat, on Sunday, also spoke to Tej Bahadur and sought the real requirement of the family. Talking to TOI, Bahadur said, “I will appreciate it if all of Sushma’s fees and hostel expenses are taken care of. I sold one bigha land to pay first installment of Rs 25,075 to confirm a seat at Lucknow University.”
Bahadur also yearns for accommodation in any of the university’s hostels. Till two months ago, he used to live in a room at St Meraj’s Inter College, Kanpur Road and was asked to vacate it. Now, he and his wife and daughter live in a small room in Barigaha village, close to his old residence. “It’s a shabby place. We stay in the middle of the village and the atmosphere is bad. It’s very difficult to study here,” said Sushma.
When asked whether she is aware of the state government’s zero fees scholarship for OBC students having an annual income of less than 1 lakh, she said, “I am unaware of this. University officials didn’t inform me of this facility even when I went to verify my caste certificate.”
Meanwhile, Sushma said, she is extremely happy with her admissions at LU. “My wait is finally over. I had applied for the same course at Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University but didn’t get any response from there,” she said, who aspires to become a doctor. Sushma’s name appeared in the second selected merit cut-off list for postgraduate courses which was declared on August 26.
Bahadur is hopeful that Sushma’s dreams will come true someday. He met the university vice-chancellor SB Nimse almost 20 days back who assured him of financial aid. Bahadur will meet professor Dixit, who is coordinating the process, on Monday to give a clear picture of his requirement. As far as Patil is concerned, the V-C has already spoken to him and is willing to accept support for the child. Dixit has also approached the finance officer to get an estimate of the total expenses including the fee structure and hostel fee, in case the girl decided to avail the hostel facility.Daughter of a daily wage labourer and an illiterate mother, Sushma (in 2007), passed class X when she was seven year’s old. She secured a place in the Limca book of records for being the youngest student to pass class X.
She passed class XII at the age of 10 and pursued BSc in Zoology and Botany from CMS Girl’s Degree College associated with LU. She finished the course this year securing 66% marks. Sushma’s brother Shailendra holds the distinction of being the youngest computer science graduate till date. He was 14 when he finished his BCA (in 2007). At present, he is pursuing MCA from a Bangalore-based institute. He also works part time in a company there to make two ends meet.
TOI
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