IIT Dhanbad: India’s Supreme Court saves a poor student’s college dream

Atul Kumar, 18, was thrilled to learn in June that he had passed a rigorous test that would enable him to enroll in a prominent engineering college in India.

But then came the next step: paying 17, 500 rupees ($ 281, £156 ) online to confirm his admission. The home from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, in north India, received a sizable sum of money.

Atul claims that his father, who had access to the money, missed the online payment date by a few seconds, primarily due to technical problems.

The family did n’t give up, filing petitions and court cases. This week, India’s top court stepped in and ordered the Indian Institute of Technology ( IIT ), Dhanbad, to restore Atul’s admission.

The Supreme Court cited the constitution’s unusual powers, stating that” we don’t let such a young gifted son to go away.”

The IITs are India’s top tech schools, attracting more than a million individuals for almost 18, 000 chairs in 23 schools spread across the country. Parents believe that enrolling in an IIT is a solution to success, and individuals spend years studying in private tutoring centers to prepare for the test.

Due to his financially troubled history and the difficulties he overcame, Atul’s history has gained attention in India.

Atul is a member of India’s Dalit area, which is among the most underrepresented in the nation.

His mother weaves cots at home, while his father, Rajendra Kumar, works as a daily wage laborer for about 450 rupees ($ 5, £4 ).

But Rajendra Kumar says that nothing was more important to him than his son’s training. He also sold his home again to finance his eldest son’s experiments, he told the BBC.

Two of Atul’s boys are studying architecture at respected institutions, while a fourth is doing a bachelor’s education from a university in Muzaffarnagar.

Atul was aware that he also needed to work hard to study every day in a dim, unglanced room of his home. The problem got worse when the light was out for hours every day.

Rajendra Kumar says buying an inverter did n’t make sense as it cost nearly 25, 000 rupees.

” But I would have sold the house]again ] if needed”, he adds.

This year was Atul’s last of the two University entrance examination attempts, and he had already joined a complimentary coaching center for underprivileged students in a nearby city.

When Atul passed the exam, his papa asked for help from a nearby lender. However, the person retreated two hours before the payment deadline.

The parents then had to switch to his companions, who instantly chipped in with 14, 000 pounds. For the remaining 3,500 pounds, Rajendra Kumar dipped into his pocketbook.

He immediately deposited the volume in his youngest son’s bank account, while Atul logged in to finish the formalities.

By therefore, he had merely 180 moments left for the date.

” We attempted to finish the task that calls for many more hours of job in three days,” said Rajendra Kumar.

But the gate froze immediately, he says, and Atul missed the deadline.

In surprise, no-one in the home ate for a moment.

IIT Dhanbad reached out to Atul’s training center, but his plea claims they did not assist him. The eager family attempted to move a new judge and send emails to various college authorities, but nothing came.

The Supreme Court was the only choice left at this point. A Dalit student was admitted to IIT Bombay in 2021 after failing to pay his entrance fee on day due to financial and professional problems.

Atul and his parents got in touch with the attorney who represented him in court.

In the Supreme Court, IIT Dhanbad claimed that Atul had attempted to use the pay site at 3pm, which indicated that it was not a last-minute effort. Additionally, it noted that Atul was repeatedly notified via text information well before the deadline.

However, the judge inquired to IIT as to why it was so eager to reject his attendance.

The court ordered IIT Dhanbad to add seats for Atul in the current shipment, finding that there was no justification for the applicant to pay the amount if he had the methods to do so.

The Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, therefore wished him the best of luck with his reports.

” All the best, do well”!, he said.