Agartala, June 21: Two students from the indigenous community in Tripura have cracked the IIT entrance and topped the merit list of ST category in the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) test.

This is only the second time that a tribal girl, Hritusri Mog, 18, has cracked IIT after 16 years, while Shubham Debbarma, 18, has topped the AIIMS admission test in the ST category for the first time.

Hritusri, a student of Baikhora HS School in South Tripura's Shantir Bazar subdivision, was only eight short of the 10th position in the higher secondary examination. But Hritusri, daughter of a government employee in Shantir Bazar SDM office, Anjarai Mog, and homemaker mother, Rupashi, had her sights set on IIT from the very beginning. "I had undergone special coaching in the School of Science over the past two years and this has helped me a lot," said an elated Hritusri over phone from her home in Baikhora. She added that she was expecting a berth either in IIT Guwahati or IIT Allahabad. In 1999, Arunima Jamatya who had cracked IIT as Tripura's first tribal girl, is now settled in the US.

Similarly, Shubham Debbarma, another indigenous student of Shishu Bihar HS School in Agartala, has topped the merit list of AIIMS joint entrance in the ST category. Son of Agartala-based agriculture officer Shyamal Debbarma and schoolteacher mother Ruby, Shubham had all along performed well in the exams.

"I had secured 8th position in the merit list of 10 of TBSE in the Madhyamik examination in 2013 but have missed the top 10-list in the HS examination this year but now I am happy," said Shubham.

The success of Hritusri and Shubham has come at a time when the state and the autonomous district council school education departments are worried over the dismal success rate of indigenous students. During the past five years, the pass rate of indigenous students has never crossed 50 per cent.

"We are trying our best to improve the pass rate but the success of Shubham and Hritusri will definitely inspire students from the indigenous community. Though Shubham was a student of Shishu Bihar in Agartala, Hritusri was from the remote Baikhora Higher Secondary School in South Tripura," said Radhacharan Debbarma, chief executive member of the council.

He added that they were planning to felicitate and give cash awards to both students soon.