PM steps in: NITs Nithin,fighting cancer,will shift cities

Ever since their only child K Nithin Reddy was diagnosed with cancer,Kotha Mahipal Reddy and Vanajya Reddy havent had much good news.

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Ever since their only child K Nithin Reddy was diagnosed with cancer,Kotha Mahipal Reddy and Vanajya Reddy havent had much good news. Now they have a reason to cheer.

Nithin,a third year mechanical engineering student at the National Institute of Technology (NIT),Silchar,will now be able to complete his studies in Warangal,his hometown. This means Nithin,who is suffering from Hodgkins Lymphoma a cancer that originates from the white blood cells and spreads across the lymph system will no longer have to make the long journey from Assam to Andhra Pradesh every fortnight for chemotherapy at Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences,Hyderabad.

On July 19,The Indian Express had reported how 20-year-old Nithins application for transfer to NIT,Warangal,had been rejected by the Union HRD Ministry which said that the rules did not permit such shifts as students were allocated seats on the basis of their ranks in the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE).

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Following the report,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh personally called up MoS D Purandeshwari and asked her to ensure that Nithins case was taken up on priority. Purandeshwari had earlier taken up Nithins case after receiving a letter from his parents.

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has now ordered that Nithin be transferred to Warangal. I have,upon reading the report,ordered his transfer to NIT Warangal as he had requested. The rules and procedures must serve the cause of justice and where they dont,intervention is both necessary and justified. However,the power to transfer from institutes like NITs and IITs should only be exercised in the rarest of rare case. This is one such case, said Sibal.

I cannot thank the HRD Ministry and The Indian Express enough for this. I did not want to lose a year and I am very happy my request for transfer to NIT,Warangal has been accepted. I could not have continued my studies if this transfer had not come through, said Nithin.

I am very happy for Nithin. His parents were traumatised. I must thank the Prime Minister who called me up personally to inquire about Nithin after the report,and said he must be helped and even given medical assistance if needed. The HRD Minister took the decision to make an exception for Nithin on humanitarian grounds, said Purandeshwari.