Anand Kumar with the Super 30 students in Patna on Wednesday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, May 25: Twenty-four out of thirty Super 30 students — mostly belonging to poor, impoverished families — cracked the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE) this year.

With the latest tally, the number of students clearing the IIT-JEE from Super 30, founded by mathematician Anand Kumar, since its inception in 2002 touched 236. The percentage of successful aspirants has come down this year, though. Anand had claimed cent per cent success in the past three years.

For Anand, today was probably the most anxious day of the year. He keenly awaited the IIT-JEE results this morning. Amid controversies and doubts raised over the authenticity of his claims of cent per cent results of Super 30 for the past three years, where 30 students belonging to the underprivileged section are rigorously taught and groomed, there was pressure on Anand, he himself admitted.

Anand said the success rate had come down marginally this year as cut-off marks substantially increased. “However, I am happy and satisfied. The results have been transparent, as I had released the list of Super 30 students two days back.

Twenty-four students made it to IITs. The remaining six, who could not make it, will surely come out with flying colours in the All-India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) and the state entrance test,” Anand told The Telegraph.

“I just want to tell my detractors that if someone is trying to do some good work in the society, don’t pull his/her legs,” he said.

Most of the Super 30 students who cleared the tough examination are wards of farmers, mobile mechanics, truck drivers and grade-III employees. They passed out from government schools and could not afford expensive private coaching classes. They were selected for Anand’s classes through a three-step entrance test.

For the first time, Anand conducted admission tests in UP, Punjab and Jharkhand apart from Patna last year. Twelve of the 24 successful candidates this year are from outside Bihar. Priyanka Sharma, the only girl student in the batch, hails from Ludhiana in Punjab.

The successful students attributed their success to rigorous study schedule, good atmosphere and dedication of the teachers’ team led by Anand. “The thirty of us, who stayed at the coaching institute and studied for 14-16 hours everyday, were like a family. Anand Sir had filled a sense of passion among us. As a result, we ate, slept and talked IIT-JEE. Today, our hard work has paid off,” Praveen Kumar Ray, who clinched the 859th position on the OBC list, said.

Anand asked his successful students not to forget their roots after they taste success in life. “As you make it to the country’s topmost technical institution, do not forget where do you come from and never try to belittle your less fortunate relatives,” he told his students.

Asked whether he had to work harder for some students, Anand said all the students in the Super 30 were gems and were groomed to succeed.

Elsewhere in Patna, several institutions were claiming success of their candidates. If they are to be believed, the number of successful candidates would cross 150 in Patna.

Former IPS officer Abhayanand, who was one of the co-founders of Super 30 with Anand, had issued a list of 91 candidates coached by him. Of them, 34 cracked the IIT-JEE.

The Gaya Patwa Toli followed its tradition of sending its students to the IITs.