All three students from Punjab,who were a part of Anand Kumars Super 30 programme,have made to the Indian Institute of Technology,as per to the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) results announced on Wednesday. Nearly 5 lakh aspirants had appeared for JEE this year. The students from Punjab,who took admission for free coaching in Patna,included two boys and one girl Jatinder Singh,Satish Kumar and Priyanka Sharma. Coming from financially poor families,these students have made their families proud. It is said that five students from Punjab were shortlisted by the Foundation,but two returned soon. Despite coming 676,I am not content. In my last attempt,I cleared IIT with a rank of 8,000. Though I could have got admission in an IIT last year only,I took the entrance examination again so that I could improve upon my rank and get the institute of my preference, said Jatinder Singh. His father Raj Kumar is a street food vendor in his village Majha,Sangrur. With a family of six members,Raj Kumar takes financial assistance from self-help groups in his village. He has not called since morning. We got to know through the members of the Foundation, said Raj Kumar. I wanted him to be a district collector,but he said he wants to be an engineer as through this he could work for the people, he added. Satish Kumar cleared the JEE entrance with a rank of 2,041. His father Ashok Kumar is a shopkeeper in village Dhadrian,Sangrur. He could not clear the entrance last year. He took the qualifying examinations for the Super 30 programme when we learnt about the Bhai Jaitajee Foundation that prepares students for IIT-JEE free of cost, said Ashok Kumar. Satish aspires to become a mechanical or electrical engineer. The third student who cleared the examination was Priyanka Sharma,who bagged the 5,324th rank. The daughter of Ram Kumar,who has a small mobile repair shop in Ludhiana,Priyanka could hardly hide her excitement. She aspires to be a computer engineer. If not,then an electronic and communication engineer. Not losing hope as she could not clear the examination last year,she kept trying and finally made it to the IITs, said her father. These three cases come as a new ray of hope for underprivileged students,staying in small villages. We are extremely happy with the results and thank Anand Kumar for affording this opportunity to the children of Punjab, said Harpal Singh,Chairman of Bhai Jaitajee Foundation.
