Anand Kishore (left) and Anand Kumar. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, May 26: Even yesterday, Anand Kishore had helped his illiterate father sell toddy. Today, the Scheduled Caste boy cracked the tough IIT-Joint Entrance Examination.

The 18-year-old Nalanda resident stood 1190th among quota candidates who cleared the test this year, which means he might get a seat in the Institute of Technology, BHU, or the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad.

As one Anand proved a point, another emerged to claim a share of the success.

Anand Kumar, whose “Super-30” concept has helped many poor students since 2003, said the Dalit boy was a product of his “unique” coaching institute in Patna. He showed up with his namesake before the media soon after the results were declared.

Kumar claimed, like he has the past three years, that all 30 students of his Super-30 group had cracked IIT-JEE 2010, including Anup Kumar and Mohammad Sadab who were equally poor.

While nobody denies that Kumar has been helping poor students dream big, his Super-30 appears to have become more of a marketing gimmick whose success rate is still a mystery.

Kumar, whose Ramanujam Institute has been rated one of the best in Asia by Time magazine, has never released the names of those in his Super-30 group before declaration of results despite repeated requests from the media.

The Telegraph had phoned Kumar 10 days ago, asking him to show the Super-30 students who had sat for the exam this year and furnish a list. Yesterday, too, this correspondent had emailed him a request for the list.

Kumar refused. “As a matter of policy, we do not provide the list of our students before the results are out,” he said.

But his Super-30 co-founder Abhayanand was more upfront. Three days ago, the senior IPS officer, who parted ways with Kumar to start his own philanthropic venture, released a list of 89 students he had coached at three centres at “nominal fees”.

Twenty of the 89 have cleared the IIT-JEE.

“I am satisfied that 20 of the 89 students I coached emerged successful. I released the list for the sake of transparency and I am happy”, Abhayanand said, without commenting on Kumar’s Super-30.

Kumar had started the Super-30 concept in 2003 to “spot talent from poor and backward families”. Selected students would stay at his home and were taught free.

At the same time, he opened the Ramanujam Institute, which charged Rs 100 for application forms and Rs 10,000 for coaching each student.

Sources said the Ramanujam Institute was Kumar’s “source of earning” while the Super-30 was a “philanthropic” concept.

Three years ago, Kumar apparently “merged” the Super-30 with the Ramanujam institute.

“It is hard to differentiate between the Super-30 and the over 5,000 students studying at the Ramanujam institute. We come to know that we are part of the Super-30 when we are selected,” said a student who didn’t want to be named.

But a grateful Kishore thanked Kumar for his guidance. “I passed my high school in my native village in Nalanda. When I came to Patna, I joined Concept tutorial. My father worked in the house of Rajiv Sir who was the director of the tutorial. Later, Anand sir too guided me.”

Kishore’s father Amarnath Choudhary has no idea what Super-30 is. As for IIT-JEE, he only knows it’s some kind of a gateway to success.

“Till yesterday, my son was helping me sell toddy,” he said. “I am very happy he has done well.”