In Patna: ‘Don’t ask us our caste, look at IIT’s merit list today’

Today was a special day at Super 30, the Patna institute which helps students from Bihar’s poorest families clear the IIT entrance hurdle without charging a penny.

Today was a special day at Super 30, the Patna institute which helps students from Bihar’s poorest families clear the IIT entrance hurdle without charging a penny. Twenty eight of its 30 students qualified, including Devyanshu Jha who stood 10th on the All India merit list, and nearly 60 per cent of those who made it are from OBC homes.

As reported by The Indian Express earlier, Super 30, run by mathematician Anand Kumar and police officer Abhyanand, is all about competition, no quota. “Why do you want to know whether I am an OBC? I have not availed any reservation to clear the IIT entrance,” said Abhijeet Kumar.

Most students are from the state’s interiors and never discuss caste. But Pranav Kumar, Anand’s brother who manages the institute, said: “According to my estimate, around 60 per cent of the successful students this time are OBCs. The numbers seem to be rising with every Super 30 batch (this is its fourth year).” Three of the 28 who got through belong to the Scheduled Castes.

Manish Prasad, the son of a school teacher in rural Vaishali’s Patepur, was fumbling for words to thank his teachers. An OBC, he ranked 2,963 on the merit list.

Most OBC students have dropped their surnames. “I am a Yadav. If I use my surname, it gives the impression that I have come through quota and not merit. So I dropped it,” said Santosh Kumar, son of a farmer from Bihta. His All India rank is 3,537.

In this year’s batch, there were also some boys from well-placed families. Abhijeet Kumar’s father is a leading doctor and he could have paid for his classes at any other coaching institute. But he chose Super 30. Devyanshu Jha, who ranked 10th All India, is the son of an engineer.

“Yes, this time some students are from well-to-do families. But our criteria has always been only merit,” said Anand Kumar. Abhyanand, an ADG in the Bihar Police, said conditions at the institute are such that students from affluent families usually stay away. “Why will they come here when they can afford a better institute?” he said.

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But Chief Minister Nitish Kumar thinks otherwise. Excited over Super 30’s success story, he has contacted the institute.

“Nitish Kumar spoke to me. He said he will discuss this in detail and explore the possibility of establishing more such institutes for the poor,” said Anand Kumar.