Patna, May 31: The anti-reservation lobby can take heart. As many as 28 of 30 students have cracked the IIT entrance test from Bihar’s Ramanujan School of Mathematics, 11 of them from the other backward classes (OBCs) who appeared in the general category and said reservation wasn’t necessary.
The students are part of the “Super 30” scheme offered by the coaching institute under which it trains meritorious boys and girls from the economically weaker sections cutting across gender, caste and religion. The 30 students accepted for the scheme are offered tuition, lodging and meals free of cost.
The school, run by Anand Kumar, himself an OBC who has an MSc degree in mathematics, made its presence felt in its very first year (2003), with 18 students getting through to the IITs. It improved its tally to 22 in 2004 and 26 in 2005.
The star of 2006 is Divyanshu Mishra of Darbhanga, who secured 10th rank and has been picked along with four others to represent India at the International Physics Olympiad to be held in Singapore shortly.
Abhayanand, an IPS officer who teaches physics at Super-30, was elated at the success of the students.
“It proves that talent, or its dearth, is not birth-specific,” he said.
The students are part of the “Super 30” scheme offered by the coaching institute under which it trains meritorious boys and girls from the economically weaker sections cutting across gender, caste and religion. The 30 students accepted for the scheme are offered tuition, lodging and meals free of cost.
The school, run by Anand Kumar, himself an OBC who has an MSc degree in mathematics, made its presence felt in its very first year (2003), with 18 students getting through to the IITs. It improved its tally to 22 in 2004 and 26 in 2005.
The star of 2006 is Divyanshu Mishra of Darbhanga, who secured 10th rank and has been picked along with four others to represent India at the International Physics Olympiad to be held in Singapore shortly.
Abhayanand, an IPS officer who teaches physics at Super-30, was elated at the success of the students.
“It proves that talent, or its dearth, is not birth-specific,” he said.
Kumar, who teaches mathematics, has a balanced take on the 27 per cent reservation announced by the Union government for OBCs in higher education. “While merit should be given priority, the government should ensure some relaxation for OBC students,” he said.
But most Super-30 students are against reservation. Pankaj Kumar Kapadia, an OBC student from Nasirganj in Rohtas who has bagged the 1,079th rank, said: “Why do we need to be lifted to reach the top rung of the ladder?” The government, he said, must spare at least the IITs, IIMs and AIIMS to ensure quality.
Kapadia, whose father is a retail cloth merchant, feared foreign companies would start losing interest in Indian students if the Centre implemented the quota regime.
He claims to have worked out, by talking to friends across the country, that more than 27 per cent OBC students are already making it to the IITs and other engineering institutes.
Saurav Kumar of Fatuha, who got the 2,828th rank, said the success theory lay in intensive practice sessions, regular interaction with successful seniors and three internal tests every week.
Students are not allowed to go home during their seven-month stay at the lodge.
Abhayanand said the institute was started with the objective of giving a fillip to meritorious students from rural areas. “After selecting, we put the students in sub-standard lodges deliberately to find out if they really need us,” he added.
Some students have left because of “poor” food and living conditions. “It was their choice. After all, we started the institute for those who cannot afford costly coaching and tuition,” said the IPS officer, now the DG (headquarters).
The “no-caste” feeling in the institute is so predominant that three faculty members — Praveen, Amit and Neeraj — have refused to disclose their surnames to students and the media.
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RANJAN RITURAJ SINH
1 comments:
let the force be with and God give us the power and courage to fight this battle till the end. We cannot afford to lose this battle as this is the most important battle in the life of our times and history should not accuse of being cowards. It's time to show courage to stick to the cause. We need to motivate, encourage and persuade ourselves to the cause of equality and try to campaign actively, everyday, every night and every breath for this cause. Withdrawal of the strike by doctors does not mean anything to the campaign. The campaign will continue till equality is restored in the society. We need to keep the campaign alive and need to ensure that this fight continues for weeks and months till the government and Supreme Court make a case in our favor and abolish all forms of reservation. The fight has to be persistent and continuous and non-violent and there must be no let down and it must gather momentum every day and fall on the government like a huge juggernauting snowball. In a soceity where there is abundance creating quota does not adversely effect the legitmate receivers of benefit. In our country with its meager resources providing quota means harming the legitmate meritorious students. principles and ideals which were on the forefront during independence times have taken back seat with the current parliamentarians. The current breed of parliamentarians work for benefit of themselves and their community. They are unconcerned about their acts adversely effecting huge sections of population. They reinforce their arguments with seemingly irrational arguments. The current media quality has deteriorated to such low standards that emotional and irrational logic are made to sound seeming and reasonable. The need is to continue the agitation till the equality is resotred in democracy. Everyone must do their part in spreading the word and strenghtening the campaign. Keep the battle up and running
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