When the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2025 results were declared this week, the quiet campus of Jai Prakash Narayan Sarvodaya Vidyalaya in Marihan block of Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district erupted in celebration. Twelve of the 25 girls who sat the country’s toughest medical entrance examination cleared the cut-off, an extraordinary 48 % strike-rate for a fully government-run residential school that caters almost exclusively to students from Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) families. economictimes.indiatimes.com
Dreams that once seemed distant
Princy (daughter of a farm labourer), Pooja Ranjan (whose father tills a small patch in Sonbhadra) and Shweta (raised above a bicycle-seat-cover shop in Kaushambi) grew up believing a doctor’s coat was far beyond their financial reach. “I never imagined the word ‘doctor’ could be linked to my name,” Pooja told reporters, still stunned by her score of 646/720. Their stories mirror the larger group: all 25 candidates come from families with annual incomes below ₹2 lakh. timesofindia.indiatimes.com
A residential ‘coaching-plus-school’ model
Unlike most government schools, Sarvodaya Vidyalayas provide free hostel rooms, meals, uniforms and textbooks from Class 6 onward. In 2024 the Social Welfare Department converted the Marihan campus into a pilot “centre of excellence”, adding an after-hours coaching programme funded by Tata AIG and the Ex-Navodayan Foundation. The girls attended regular classes until 3 p.m., then sat through four hours of physics, chemistry and biology tutorials, weekly mock tests and one-on-one mentoring, all at no cost. The initiative enrolled 39 talented girls from several districts; 25 opted for NEET this year, and 12 have succeeded. economictimes.indiatimes.comtimesofindia.indiatimes.com
Social Welfare Minister Asim Arun says the experiment validates the “coaching-inside-campus” approach. “We brought the training to the girls rather than pushing them into big-city coaching hubs their parents could never afford,” he said, adding that the model will now be replicated in nine more girls’ Sarvodaya schools next academic year. economictimes.indiatimes.com
A wider network built for inclusion
Uttar Pradesh’s Sarvodaya system has expanded rapidly: 100 schools operate across 58 districts, with 31 exclusively for girls. Sixty per cent of seats are reserved for SC/ST students, 25 % for OBCs and 15 % for the general category. Every campus is fully residential, and 45 have recently upgraded hostels. The state also recruits retired government teachers, paying them stipends close to regular salaries to bolster faculty strength. dailypioneer.com
Why this success matters
NEET-UG is notorious for low hit-rates—just 13.4 % of 2.3 million candidates cleared the exam nationally last year. Rural girls from historically marginalised communities face compounding disadvantages: weaker school infrastructure, linguistic barriers, and social expectations to leave education early. “When a cluster of girls in a remote block nearly matches the national average on their first serious attempt, it is statistically significant,” says education economist Dr Nalini Tiwari, calling the Marihan cohort a “proof-of-concept for affirmative academic investment.”
Ripples beyond the classroom
Back in Marihan, parents who once hesitated to let daughters pursue higher secondary study now speak of MBBS seats in Lucknow and Varanasi. Local panchayat member Ramesh Bind notes a spike in enquiries about next year’s entrance test for Class 6. “People see the result and believe it is possible for their child too,” he says. The school has already requested an additional 80 hostel beds and a digital anatomy lab to handle the sudden demand.
What happens next?
The 12 successful candidates will still need to clear counselling and secure scholarships for medical college fees, but state officials say the Social Welfare Department will cover first-year tuition through its post-matric scholarship scheme. Director Kumar Prashant confirms the girls will also receive a ₹50,000 one-time stipend for books and relocation. Meanwhile, the coaching pilot will expand its intake to 60 students, and a parallel programme for Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) aspirants is being designed. economictimes.indiatimes.com
A template worth scaling
Marihan’s results arrive at a moment when many states are debating residential schools as engines of social mobility. By embedding high-quality coaching inside an inclusive, fully funded campus, Uttar Pradesh has offered a roadmap for turning demographic disadvantage into academic distinction. If replicated across the state’s growing Sarvodaya network—and beyond—India could see many more first-generation doctors in the years to come.
At a modest felicitation ceremony, head-girl Princy summed up the breakthrough: “From our village we could only see the skyline of a hospital in the distance. Now we can see ourselves inside it.”
Sources: Times of India (18 June 2025) and The Economic Times (18 June 2025) reports on the Marihan Sarvodaya Vidyalaya NEET results; Daily Pioneer (30 Oct 2024) coverage on the expansion and reservation policy of Uttar Pradesh Sarvodaya schools.
