Super 30 founder Anand Kumar has urged the Centre to direct banks to link the IIT counselling fee with the education loan.

On Monday evening, Anand made a formal request in this regard to Union minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha during a meeting with him in New Delhi.

Super 30 trains economically weak students free of cost to clear the IIT entrance examination. The endeavour commenced in 2002 and so far the institution, which provides free food and lodging to its students during the preparation period, has coached 360 students. Of them, 308 have cleared the gruelling entrance test.

Sharing details on Tuesday, Anand, who teaches mathematics to students preparing for the IIT entrance examination, said the minister appeared very positive to his request and promised to look into the issue.

'The minister heard me very patiently and assured of taking necessary steps to address the issue,' he told The Telegraph.

As things stand now, a student having qualified for admission to IITs have to deposit Rs 60,000 as counselling fee. It becomes a big hurdle for economically weak students even if they get an education loan.

'Education loan is provided for admission only. This can happen only if the students have an allotment letter for a specific college, which is issued only after counselling. As one needs Rs 60,000 as counselling fee, things become very difficult for poor students,' Anand said.

Sharing his experience on this front, the Super 30 founder cited an example of a boy from Begusarai district who faced a very tough situation after clearing the IIT entrance examination.

'One of my students, Hanzala Safi, had cleared the IIT entrance test in 2013 but his father was unable to mobilise funds for the counselling fee. I took the initiative and with the support of a few friends, deposited the fee,' Anand said.

Hanzala's father Farhad Safi works as a salesman in a shoe shop in Begusarai town. At present, Hanzala studies at IIT-Delhi.

A similar problem had arisen in 2014 with another student of Anand, Radheshyam. His father Shesh Ram used to work in a factory in Surat but had become unemployed after losing one of his hands in an accident. Radheshyam was a resident of Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.

'A Delhi-based philanthropist came forward to help Radheshyam. He was very worried about his admission even after clearing the entrance examination,' Anand said. At present, Radheshyam is a student of IIT-Roorkee.

Anand said if the Centre clubs the counselling fee with the education loan, it would be a boon for students like Hanzala and Radheshyam.