When the NEET-UG 2026 results were declared late on Thursday night, life took a turn for the better for Suraj Saini, a 19-year-old student from Rajasthan’s Bundi district—after spending years wielding the brush to whitewash rural households for a living, he is now set to become a doctor and hold the stethoscope instead.Suraj, a resident of Kapren town in Bundi, cracked the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET), scoring an impressive 99.16 percentile with 583 marks. He bagged an All India Rank of 16569 and an OBC category rank of 7800, securing admission into a prestigious government medical college.For Suraj, a student of Allen Career Institute in Kota, this achievement is far more than an academic milestone; it is a lifeline out of a difficult childhood marked by financial distress and the separation of his parents.His story is one of relentless fortitude and the family’s tireless strife to better their lives. Suraj lives with his mother Ghisi Bai, an agricultural labourer, and younger sister Garima, who had to drop out of school due to the family’s financial circumstances. His father lives separately.Suraj studied up to Class 8 in a government school in Kapren. Following his parents’ separation, he, along with his mother and sister, moved into his maternal grandparents’ home at Alkodia village in Talera, where he enrolled for Class 9 in a local school.  Despite hardships, Suraj never let his academic focus slip; he scored 87 per cent marks in Class 10 and 85 per cent in Class 12. Inspired by his maternal aunt, who is an ANM nurse in Jodhpur’s healthcare department, Suraj took up the Biology stream and aspired to become a doctor.However, meeting basic daily expenses was a constant battle for the family. Instead of succumbing to the adverse situation, Suraj stepped up and learned the trade of painting houses under the tutelage of his maternal uncle. He spent his vacations and after-school hours working as a whitewasher, thus helping his mother keep the household afloat.Due to the financial crunch, his younger sister Garima was forced to discontinue her education after Class 8 and join their mother in the fields.Suraj said the image of his mother working hard daylong in the fields during his early years motivated him.“I wanted to pull my family out of poverty and adversities,” Suraj said, adding, “Due to our difficult circumstances, my sister had to discontinue her studies. But I will ensure that she resumes her education.” Reflecting on the family’s struggle, Suraj shared how deeply he was involved in building their lives. “My mother saved up money from working in the fields and my earnings from whitewashing. A few years ago, we built our own home with two rooms and a veranda in Alkodia village. I painted the whole house myself.” Suraj says he could not have aced the examination had it not been for the Shiksha Sambal programme of Allen Career Institute and L N Maheshwari Parmarth (Philanthropic) Trust in Kota. The scheme provided free coaching and lodging facilities for underprivileged students.He first attempted NEET in 2024 when he was in Class 12. He then spent a year studying by himself at home and took the test again in 2025. But the turning point arrived only when he qualified for the institute’s Shiksha Sambal programme. He cleared the test on his third attempt this year.“Shiksha Sambal has truly become the real support of my life,” Suraj said, turning emotional while speaking to PTI. “Had this programme not existed, I probably would never have been able to crack the test.” Naveen Maheshwari, director of the Allen Career Institute and a trustee of the L N Maheshwari Philanthropic Trust, congratulated Suraj, noting that stories like his precisely justified the objective of the Shiksha Sambal programme.“Students from Hindi-medium government schools often lag behind due to a lack of opportunities and resources. We started this programme especially for them. It is satisfying to see such positive outcomes,” Maheshwari said.