Meet the SHero- Navreet Kaur Sekhon
November 8, 2013 It is a triumph, not just of the mind but also of the body. A polio victim who had been denied admission by a number of schools in Punjab has taken everybody by surprise by clearing this year’s Punjab Civil Services (PCS) examination held in October. Navreet Kaur Sekhon (28) has secured 23rd rank in the PCS exam. Residents of Rayya – a small town located near Amritsar – started flocking to the residence of Pyara Singh Sekhon and Balvinder Kaur Sekhon as the news of their daughter Navreet’s triumph spread. Navreet, who hails from a middle-class Sikh family, also secured the first rank in her masters in sociology in 2011. She cleared her B.Tech examination with distinction and passed the UGC-JRF test in 2010. Navreet is pursuing her doctorate in sociology at Punjabi University, Patiala. “We were shattered when we came to know that Navreet had been infected with polio virus. She was two years old then. Several schools denied her admission. They even suspected that she was mentally disabled,” Gurcharan Singh Cheema, Navreet’s grandfather, told Mail Today. The family, however, did not leave any stone unturned to secure school admission for her. “We are grateful to Satish Chabra, the principal of Jyoti Model School, Rayya. She ensured her admission to the school and also gave her some extra care. It is due to her efforts that Navreet could stand on her own feet,” Balvinder Kaur said. Navreet devotes seven to eight hours to studies. She believes in hard work and did not go for any coaching. She is eldest daughter of the Sekhon family.
