Gangrape victim’s brother promised seat in Rae Bareli institute for pilot training

The brother of the 23-year-old gangrape victim, who succumbed to injuries in December last year, has been promised a seat in Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA) in Rae Bareli.

The offer came after the government expressed its inability to fulfil his first demand for admission to the National Defence Academy (NDA), Pune, on the ground that admission rules for the premier defence training institute do not allow for a student to be taken in on compassionate grounds.

"I had asked for admission to NDA, but was told that the NDA admission procedure is sacrosanct and there is no room for any adjustment. He asked me what my second choice is and I said I want to be a pilot, at which the official said a seat in IGRUA is possible but I would have to sit for an examination," said the 18-year-old who skipped his Class XII board examinations because of the turmoil the family has been through in the past three months.

He is also preparing for the engineering entrance examinations.

IGRUA functions under the Ministry of Civil Aviation through a governing council, of which Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is the sole permanent member. The other members of the council — all of them ex-officio — include the Secretary, Civil Aviation; Director General, Civil Aviation; Chairman and Managing Director of Air India; and, the president of the Aero Club of India, a post currently held by Captain Satish Sharma.

"I will sit for the engineering exam in April. They have not told me the date of the IGRUA admission test, but I am willing to write that too," said the 18-year-old, adding that his family is still not ready to be identified.

Soon after the death of the gangrape victim on December 29, the government had promised job, accommodation and compensation for the family. Last month, the Union Cabinet passed a proposal of the Urban Development Ministry for out-of-turn allotment of a middle-income group DDA flat to the family, valued at Rs 50 lakh. The cost of the flat is to be borne by the Delhi government which, sources said, has been asked to take care of the accommodation and college admission of the woman's brother.

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