Jamshedpur: Under the expert guidance of  legendary mountaineer Ms Bachendri Pal, three youths from Jharkhand  scaled the world's tallest mountain peak, Mount Everest, on May 26, 2012.

Tata Steel  Adventure Foundation (TSAF), headed by Ms Pal, has trained the three youths. Two  of them are Meghlal Mahato and Binita Soren. The third member of the team is Rajendra  Singh Pal, brother of Ms Bachendri Pal.

Tata Steel had sponsored Rs 75  lakh for their expedition to Mt. Everest. Tata Steel’s  support to the expedition was part of its focus to facilitate the full  realisation of the latent potential among the youth of Jharkhand.

Rajendra conquered the summit  at 04:40 a.m. today followed by Binita and Meglal who could reach the peak at  06:50 a.m. All three have successfully completed Basic and Advance Mountaineering  Courses from recognised National Mountaineering Institutes. They have also gained  considerable exposure through participation in programmes conducted in the  Himalayas periodically by TSAF to inculcate leadership development skills and  mountain fitness.

Mr Rajendra  Singh Pal had earlier climbed Mt. Rudugaira (19,100 ft) in 1995 and was a  Leader and Summiter of Mt. Sudarshan (21,346 ft) in 2000. He was also a member  of Millennium Indian Everest Expedition (East Ridge) in 2001.

Mr Meghlal Mahato has climbed Mt. Stok Kangri (20,305 ft)  in 2009 and Mt. Saser Kangri (24,331ft) in 2011.  Ms Binita Soren was a  member of Indian Women’s First Thar Desert Expedition  across the International  Border – from Bhuj in Gujarat to Wagah in Punjab – a Camel Safari across  Gujarat-Rajasthan-Punjab covering over 2,000 km in 30 days.

The team had set out from Kathmandu on March 25,  2012 and opted to trek from Jiri to Lukla. The intention behind trekking and not flying to Lukla was  to acclimatise the climbers to the rigorous route ahead. Ms Bachendri Pal, the leader of the successful  Indo-Nepal expedition to the world's highest peak in 1993 and the first Indian woman to  climb Mt. Everest, accompanied the climbers from Jiri to Tengboche  to see them off. In-between, the team had also  scaled the Island Peak at a height 20,275 ft.

"I come from Tumlung  village. Three kilometres from my home is a training centre of TSAF. I had  heard a lot about mountaineering and, one day, I decided to visit the centre  with some of my friends and since then I have never looked back", an  excited Binita had said just before the expedition.

Meghlal, who holds a post-graduate  degree in Economics, had expressed similar thoughts. “I am very excited about  the expedition. Mountaineering has uplifted me from the poverty line to Mt  Everest", he had said before embarking upon the expedition.

Mr H M Nerurkar, Managing  Director, Tata Steel, congratulated all three climbers and said: “Tata Steel is  happy to have sponsored this successful expedition to Mt. Everest where our own  climbers from Jharkhand have scaled the world’s highest peak. We will continue  to support such activity that helps build self confidence and team spirit and  facilitates development of leadership qualities and empowerment in the long  term”.