Source: newindianexpress.com
HYDERABAD: Rising from abject poverty and giving competition to their peers from private and corporate educational institutions, 93 social and tribal welfare residential students have cracked IIT-JEE (Advanced) 2019.
Of these, 20 social and 27 tribal welfare residential students are likely to secure admission in IITs and the remaining 46 students would get into IIT preparatory courses. With this, the number of social and tribal welfare students securing IIT seats has jumped from 36 in 2018 to 93 in 2019.
A Venkatesh, who secured the All-India 23rd rank in ST category is the topper from the Society. What’s remarkable about these children of auto drivers, masons, roadside tea sellers, landless labourers, security guards, daily wage labourers, taxi drivers and domestic housemaids from SC and ST communities is that a significant number of them are first generation learners from their families and some, even from their entire village and tribal hamlet. Clearly the government’s decision to provide long-term coaching to the SC and ST students is reaping rich results.
“Given my financial condition, providing IIT coaching to my son was beyond my means. Thanks to the government for providing free residential IIT coaching to children who can’t afford.  If not for the government’s support, my son wouldn’t have realized his dream,”  said Redya Naik, Venkatesh’s father.Â
Like Naik, other students too said that they owed their dream of making it to IITs to the Society. “I can never forget the kind of support our secretary RS Praveen Kumar and principal K. Satyanarayana provided to me”, said Vidwan Gagan, who secured all India 847 rank in SC category.
An elated RS Praveen Kumar, secretary, TSWREIS and TTWREIS while thanking Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Welfare Minister Koppula Eshwar said, “It is immensely satisfying to see that hundreds of students from SC/ST communities creating a mark for themselves in the country’s toughest exam and this success means a lot to them and their poverty-stricken families. The entire credit goes to students and dedicated teachers for their hard work and sincerity,’’ he said.
