The names of Megha, Alok Kumar and Sumit Kumar Gupta may not figure in the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) toppers’ list but they are achievers in their own rights.
As the AIEEE results were declared on Sunday, Alok was elated, and at the same time reflective, to find his name in the list of successful candidates.
“My national rank is 2,356 and state rank 27. I owe my success to my parents and Anand Kumar of Super 30,” said the resident of Jehanabad, a hotbed of Maoist insurgency, and the son of a contractual schoolteacher.
Alok’s Other Backward Caste (OBC) rank is 280.
Alok’s father, Narendra Kumar, told The Telegraph: “My monthly salary is only Rs 8,000. During these days of inflation, it was very difficult to provide adequate exposure to my son so that he could pursue his dream.”
“He always wanted to crack the AIEEE and pursue his dream of higher education. Despite all odds, my son has managed to secure a good rank. I am proud of him,” Narendra added.
Alok’s story is in not much different from that of Megha.
The daughter of a clerk working with a cooperative bank in Munger, Megha could never enjoy much luxury while preparing for her dream course.
“Financial hardship was always a companion, and so was my grit to see it through. Hard work alone is not enough to crack the test. One also needs several reference books and guidance from experts. But my father was not in a sound financial position to support my education. Besides, he had to look after three of my siblings,” said Megha.
“There are several books available in the market for cracking engineering entrance tests. But each book costs more than Rs 500. So it was out of question to buy such books. All I could bank on was study materials provided by Anand Kumar, Class XII NCERT books and the prayers of my parents,” added the girl.
Megha, quite understandably, appeared content with her 10,416 all-India rank. Her OBC ranking is 1,285.
Sumit, who is originally from Dhanbad in Jharkhand, bagged the national ranking of 10,384 and is quite happy with the result. The boy, whose father used to run a grocery shop at Munidih in Dhanbad, also took tuition from Anand Kumar.
Sumit said: “My family’s financial condition is not favourable as my father’s shop was closed because of financial constraints about three-four months ago. It was only recently that the shop was reopened.”
Sumit, who had also cleared IIT-JEE with a much better ranking, said: “My primary aim is to study in IIT. I am going to join IIT-Delhi. I will try to pursue chemical engineering. While Sumit’s AIEEE national rank is 10,384, his IIT-JEE rank is 5900. He, too, had prepared for the examination at Super 30.
Kumar Abhishek, who was the state topper in CBSE Class XII examination, too, secured the state rank of fifth in the AIEEE. His all-India ranking is 676.
Abhishek had secured 97.8 percentage in CBSE Class XII and 1,168 rank in IIT-JEE.
Experts in the field of academics said successful candidates with national ranking within the 15,000 could make it to premier institutes such as NITs and BITs.
