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Disowned by parents for not dropping out of school, disabled girl cracks civil service examinations

Ummul Kher achieved an All India Rank 420 in her first attempt and hopes to get IAS under the disability quota.

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Ummul Kher, a 28 year old student from Delhi, who despite having fragile bone disorder since childhood and having been disowned by her parents, cracked the civil services exam in her first attempt this week. With an All India Rank of 420, she now hopes to get IAS under disability quota, says a report by Hindustan Times.

Kher shifted to Delhi from Rajasthan when she was in class 5 and endured 16 fractures and 8 surgeries due to her disease. Her father used to work as street vendor selling clothes near Hazrat Nizamuddin while the family lived in a nearby slum. She completed her  Class 5 education in Pt Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute for The Physically Handicapped, and later went to Amar Jyoti Charitable Trust where she studied till Class 8. “It was a charitable organisation run by the government and I didn’t have to pay anything. Though getting one square meal was difficult, I was satisfied that I could at least study,” she said. Life was difficult, but what came after that was “both difficult and painful” as Kher adds.

She wanted to further study at the Arwachin Bharti Bhavan senior secondary school as it had better infrastructure. But despite getting a scholarship, her parents were against it and said that if she continued her studies any further they would sever ties with her. “I was abused. My intentions were questioned because I wanted to study. It was the worst time. They said you have now got more education than a girl should,” she said. She left home and started to live in the Jhuggi Jhopdi Cluster in Trilokpuri where she used to pay with the money she earned from the tuitions she took. She said that this decision was more difficult than the civil services exams.

Ummul Kher

I had started taking tuitions but living independently meant I had to earn more money. From few children the tuitions expanded to four batches — 3pm to 5pm, then from 5pm to 7pm, 7pm to 9pm and 9pm to 11 pm. These were mostly children from slum areas and I got between Rs 50-100 from each student. I couldn’t have expected more as these were children of labourers, iron smith, rickshaw-pullers etc.

"Besides, for a girl to live alone in a jhuggi was sometimes traumatic. It was never safe but I had no choice,” she added Sehnag Begum, a local from Trilokpuri where Kher previously lived said, “She is a brave child. She lived alone but my daughter used to sleep with her because it is not safe for a girl to live alone.” In return, Kher used to give her free tuitions, Begum added. After Class 8,  Amar Jyoti Charitable Trust backed Kher's education and  helped her as and when required. They also financed her tuition for Class 9 and 10.

Kher scored 91% in Class 12 and got admission in Gargi College and continued to fund her education by taking tuitions. Abhishek Ranjan, a friend of Kher from DU recalls her difficult college days, “She funded her education through the money she won at debates in DU colleges. You can earn decent money as the prize amount is high in some of the college festivals. But here too, she could not participate in debates that were organised in evening as she had to take tuitions." In 2012, she was confined to a wheelchair after she a had an accident and also suffered from the bone disorder disease.  Kher cleared JNU entrance exam for master’s in International Studies post her graduation. With Rs 2,000 means-cum-merit scholarship and she did not had to give tuitions. In 2013, she cracked the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) under which she started getting Rs 25,000 per month.

“Despite her physical challenges she was always at a par with other students and excelled in both academics and extracurricular activities,”Archna Upadhyay, a faculty member at JNU’s School of International Studies said adding that she wasn't surprised with the results. “I don’t blame them. They were brought up in an environment that shaped their thinking. It is not their fault,” she said on Kher forgiving her family. “I have not made a phone call yet as they don’t know what civil services mean. But I will visit them soon.” Her parents currently live in Rajasthan where her brother runs a small bangle shop.

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