Girl from J&K's border village flies high, attends ISRO Young Scientist Programme

Samba (J&K): A girl from a remote border village in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district has brought laurels to her family and school after she was selected for the prestigious Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Young Scientist programme.

The programme began in 2019 with the aim of imparting basic knowledge so that the youth take an interest in space science. This year Bhupinder Kaur, a student of class 10 at the Government High School in village Abtal, in the border district of Samba has been selected for the programme. "ISRO organises Yuvika young scientist programme every year. I didn't know anything about it and my teacher helped me in filling up the forms. I got selected and I went to IIRS Dehradun, where I learned a lot of things. I got to know the techniques behind building a rocket," she said.

Bhupinder Kaur's dedication and hard work made her an exemplary student and she has become the talk of the town today. The entire village is in awe of her achievements. "We are really happy about her achievements and the whole village is feeling proud that she got selected. Her teacher helped her a lot. She is really happy, I would say more than us. She has made all of us proud and will continue to do so," said Amarjit Kaur, Bhupinder Kaur's mother.

Gurmail Singh, a local leader and Vice President, of SGPC, said the sky is the limit for her. "We really want her to achieve more and make the whole country proud. She will be a role model for the other kids in the village," Singh said. Bhupinder's village is just two kilometres from the international border. The programme enabled 350 students from across the country to visit the Indian Institute Of Remote Sensing in Dehradun.