Patna, April 11: Renowned academic Anand Kumar, the founder of Super 30, was embroiled in a controversy today when a teenaged girl accused him of taking money from students in lieu of classes and showing poor students the door if they were unable to pay up.
At the janata darbar of chief minister Nitish Kumar, Khushboo Rani, a resident of the state capital, alleged that Kumar had thrown her out of his ongoing classes just because she was unable to pay Rs 5,000 as tuition fee.
The Super 30 founder is known worldwide for his successful initiative of providing free coaching to underprivileged students for the IIT-JEE.
Khushboo alleged that she had paid money in three instalments to Kumar for getting IIT coaching.
“It’s all a lie, Super 30 is just a media hype. During my classes, I was first asked to pay Rs 8,000. Then I paid Rs 7,000 and Rs 4,000 as the second and third instalments. After that I was asked to pay Rs 5,000 more by Kumar. I expressed my inability to do so as I come from a very poor family. On this, I was thrown out of the class,” she alleged.
The girl, however, refused to give out the details about her family.
“I want my money back. I am from a poor family and I cannot afford to shell out so much money without any reason,” she said.
Later, speaking to reporters, the chief minister said that the girl’s charges had nothing to do with any institution. “The girl had just Rs 10,000 when Rs 15,000 was being demanded for coaching. I told her that there is no government provision for helping students pay coaching fees. But since she has come here, I have suggested that we raise donations among ourselves and give her Rs 5,000,” he said, indicating that the girl did not belong to Super 30.
When contacted, the Super 30 founder refuted the allegations. “I got a call regarding the same. This is nothing but a ploy to tarnish the image of Super 30. We have checked the records and there is no student by the same name. We don’t take money from anyone and the Super 30 runs on the money I earn through tuitions. Moreover, the IIT exams have just got over and there is no batch running now. Where does the question of this student arise from suddenly? This is all false,” he told The Telegraph.
