Author: J P Yadav
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: May 24, 2006
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/5046.html
HRD Minister Arjun Singh, whose seat reservation
proposals have kicked up a row, could look at one private training institute
in Patna which doesn't charge a penny yet ensures students from extremely
poor families, OBCs and Dalits included, make it to IITs by beating competition,
not through quota.
At least 30 per cent of students from Super
30-that's the name of the institute-who have made it to the IITs in the last
three years were OBCs. And they all appeared for the general category examination.
Every year, the institute, run by mathematician
Anand Kumar and Bihar Police ADG Abhyanand, selects 30 students after a screening
test and then prepares them for the IIT entrance examination.
"We never try to know the caste of a
student. Merit is the only criteria for us. Since our emphasis is on poor
students, we end up getting a good number of OBC and Dalit students,"
says Anand Kumar.
Though they estimate that one in every three
students is an OBC, Pranav Kumar, who manages the institute, says the number
could be higher. "The figures I am quoting is what we learn casually.
Caste is a crude reality in Bihar, so many OBC students deliberately hide
their caste. I feel the number's higher than 9-10 out of 30."
Abhyanand, who takes time off from policing
to guide students in Physics, says talent has got nothing to do with caste
or creed. "Talent is everywhere. You need to spot it and give them the
opportunity. Despite being talented, OBC and Dalit students fail to make it
to the IITs as they cannot afford to pay hefty sums being charged by coaching
institutes. The Government can easily open centres like ours and see how a
large number of students from these communities crack the IIT mystery,"
he says.
This year's "Super 30" batch has
five SC students and Abhyanand is confident at least three will secure a ranking
in the general category. Pankaj Kumar Kapadia, son of a poor cloth trader
from Nasriganj of Rohtas district, is among the 30 who took the IIT entrance
examination. He is opposed to reservation for OBCs. "I too am an OBC.
Despite being talented, I would have never dreamt of making it to the IIT
had this institute not helped me. Instead of reservation, the Government should
open institutes like Super 30 where poor backward students can be coached,"
he said.
His batchmate Santosh Kumar, from Bihta, is
in favour of reservation. Yet he wants the government to establish affordable
institutes for students from the socially and educationally backward sections.
"Reservation does not mean that IIT will admit me just because I am an
OBC. I will have to come up to IIT standards. We need reservation but we also
need quality institutes where our poor parents can afford to send us,"
he says.
The Super 30 experiment has been a success
story. In the first year, 18 of the 30 students made it to the IIT. In the
second year, the score went up to 22 and last year, it was 26. "This
year, we are quite hopeful. We hope to achieve hundred per cent success,"
says Anand Kumar.
