Fighting poverty, 16-year-old boy makes it to IIT-Delhi
NEW DELHI: Vijay Kumar, a 16-year-old boy from a slum of Delhi, cracked the IIT examination and took admission to the B.Tech (Chemical) course. Kumar studied in a Delhi Government School at Sundar Nagar and always loved to Mathematics. His brother studies in DTU, the father is a daily labourer and mother is house help. "I always wanted to be an engineer but never imagined that I would ever be able to crack IIT examination,"
said Kumar.
While studying in class 12, he took the free coaching scheme for competitive exams for the SC/ST/OBC students in Delhi which are known as Jai Bhim Mukhyamantri Pratibha Vikas Yojana. "I went to the local government school and from the very childhood, I always loved mathematics. Every Day after coming back from school, I help my mother to finish her household job. It was never possible for me to only study and not to help my parents. But my parents and brother stood beside me. They always motivated me to study. My teachers at school were also very nice and they encouraged me too," Kumar said.
Thirty-five underprivileged students who got free coaching under an Aam Aadmi Party government scheme have cracked the JEE Main and NEET examination this year. Four of them have secured admissions to leading technical institutions such as IIT-Delhi, Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, National Institute of Technology Delhi and IIT BHU.
"Both me and my brother we love to study. When my brother passed out of school then there was no such scholarship scheme for the students like I got now. He could not take any coaching for any competitive examination. But I got this opportunity to study in free and the experience of the coaching was also pleasant," said Kumar. He also said that he has a dream to go abroad for further study but his priority would be to stand beside his family.
"My priority is to stand beside my mother. I do not want her to work anymore because I have always seen how difficult it has been for her to work. The whole day she works and then comes back to cook for us. I also want to pursue my study and want to go abroad for further study. But if I go I will take my parents and my brother with me. We have hardly gone out of Delhi so I have a dream to show many beautiful things to my parents," Kumar said.
