Tapan Samanta comes from a village in East Midnapore, where his father earns Rs 30 a day. After topping school in Madhyamik, he had no means to proceed further and started pulling rickshaw-vans to contribute to the family’s meagre income.

Shyam Sharma lives in Barasat, where his father works in a barber’s shop. He scored very high in Madhyamik and Higher Secondary (HS), but resigned himself to the fate that colleges and universities are not for him.

Ashish Saha, son of a seasonal farmer from Murshidabad, did his HS from Santiniketan and then saw the doors of higher studies closing on him.

All three are now studying MBBS in Calcutta, thanks to scholarships given by the Mani Bhaumik Foundation.

“I never thought I could become a doctor, even after passing the joint entrance exams (JEE),”said Tapan, doing internship at NRS Medical College and Hospital. He had to “let go of the opportunity to study at Ramakrishna Mission College, Narendrapur,” and started giving tuition and pulling rickshaw-vans before deciding to sit for the JEE.

Shyam, too, went through the same grind of giving tuitions to raise money for JEE.

“The first year in college was quite a struggle, as I had no clue where from the money would come for my studies,” said Shyam, enrolled with National Medical College and Hospital.

It was at this critical juncture that they heard about the Mani Bhaumik Foundation from their seniors. The foundation has been awarding scholarships since 2002 to students who have the potential to make it big in professional fields, but do not have the money to pursue their dreams.

They applied for the scholarship and were selected for it.

“For the first time in my life, I do not have to think about sustenance,” said Shyam. For Tapan, the scholarship has boosted his self-confidence as a person.

This year, the scholarships will be awarded on January 6. The programme will be attended by chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.