Geeta, a hearing and speech-impaired woman who returned to India from Pakistan in 2015, is all set to appear for her Class 8 examination, which the Madhya Pradesh State Open School Education Board will conduct.
The board official said on Thursday that 33-year-old Geeta's application had been approved, allowing her to appear for the examination starting next week.
"While approving Geeta's application, we have allowed her to appear for the Class 8 examination, and she will get her admit card soon," Director of the State Open School Education Board Prabhat Raj Tiwari told PTI.
Officials said that the Class 8 examination conducted by the State Open School Education Board will begin on May 21 and conclude on May 28.
Anand Service Society, an Indore-based NGO, has been helping Geeta to appear for the Class 8 exams, its secretary, Gyanendra Purohit, said.
He said Geeta's real name is Radha. She currently lives with her mother, Meena Pandhare, in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.
After returning to India from Pakistan, Geeta stayed in Indore for nearly five years. She cleared the Class 5 exam in 2020, but Purohit said she could not proceed with further studies due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and other reasons.
Citing his video call interaction with Geeta using gestures, he said she wants to become financially independent by studying.
"If Geeta clears the Class 8 exam, she can become eligible for government recruitment for Class IV employees under the quota for persons with disability," he said.
Purohit mentioned that Geeta is preparing for her 8th-grade exam with the assistance of the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-based NGO Progressive Life Centre.
According to officials, Geeta is estimated to be 33 years old. She ended up in Pakistan nearly 23 years ago after mistakenly boarding a train as a child. Pakistan Rangers found her alone on the Samjhauta Express at the Lahore railway station.
The deaf and mute girl was adopted by Bilquis Edhi of Pakistan's social organisation, Edhi Foundation, and she was kept with her in Karachi.
Thanks to the special efforts of the late Sushma Swaraj, the external affairs minister at the time, Geeta was able to return to India on October 26, 2015. The next day, she was sent to the residential complex of an NGO in Indore. Geeta has been living in Maharashtra since reuniting with her family in the state in 2021.
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