Telangana boy all set to touch the sky with glory

Hyderabad: Hailing from an economically weak background and having to care for a physically challenged father even while studying did not deter P Ashok Sai of Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS) from achieving his dream of joining the Indian defence forces.

Sheer determination saw Sai, a student of Telangana Social Welfare Residential Sainik School, Rukmapur in Karimnagar, successfully cracking the UPSC and Services Selection Board (SSB) exams and getting selected for the Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter pilot course of the National Defence Academy (NDA). He will be undergoing training at the NDA, Khadakwasla. With this selection, he has proved that poverty is never a hurdle to reach great heights in life.

“My father is physically challenged and my mother works as a tailor to help our family survive in our village in Palwai of Nalgonda. In fact, my parents are so innocent that they can’t really understand my selection. I had to explain to them that I have got an opportunity to serve the country as an IAF fighter pilot and they are extremely happy now,” Sai said.

Congratulating Sai, Minister for Scheduled Castes Development Koppula Eshwar said it was a moment of great honour and pride for Telangana to see such a young boy from a poor background getting selected for the IAF.

The Minister termed it as a ground-breaking effort by TSWREIS Secretary Ronald Rose and his team with the entire credit going to Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao for championing the cause of the poorest of poor students.

Ronald Rose said clearing the NDA exam was not a cakewalk. It was a five-day selection process wherein a candidate’s physical, psychological and mental abilities were evaluated to the core.

“Every year, lakhs of students appear for the NDA exam and the selection rate is only 0.1 per cent. Sai’s achievement is one of the historic milestones in the successful journey of TSWREI students. Telangana is the only State in the country to have launched exclusive sainik schools for underprivileged students,” Ronald Rose said.

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