In one of recent trips to Patna last month, I saw hoardings of numerous IIT-JEE coaching camps. Nothing unique about it, considering that more than 70% of the senior secondary students appear for the coveted JEEs every year. Understandably, hordes of students cramming through the coaching classes. Some of them appearing even more than twice!
Bihar & UP have both produced highest number of successful candidates to the IAS lobby, but little do people know that Bihar has been sending one of the highest proportions of successful candidates to the IITs over the last several decades. (Facts gleaned from one of the reputed IIT coaching institutions based in NCR)
So what is the big deal about Bihar's "Super 30" - a very naive question asked by my sister. Why am I speaking about Super 30 today?
Abhay Kumar Singh shot into prominence with his cracker book way back in 1997- "Guide to Irodov problems". Irodov's problems in physics was a book that was warranted to be mastered before appearing for the JEE. Singh's book was manna from the heavens for hapless students attempting to go beyond problem # 5 in Irodov's book! Today,"Abhay Kumar Singh" - is a powerful brand worth crores today in Bihar.
But he has dared something to do what even the best of ivy league coaching institutes haven't been able to! "Social inclusion" of the poorest of the poor students from Bihar. "Super 30" is the exclusive cabal of students who are selected from a pool of 15000 students. The eligibility criteria is simple: You gotta belong to a very poor family, bright enough to get past the Super 30 entrance, but most importantly evolve as slog-horse: almost 18 hours a day for 365 days before the JEE exams beckon!
Abhay Kumar Singh and Anand Kumar jointly take classes for these selected students, ably supported by their mother who cooks for the entire class. Its a residential program fully funded by the duo, includes the travel costs of the students from their home towns! So how is all of this connected with Social Inclusion?
With a 100 % success rate, the 30 students graduating each year from the IITs would be earning a minimum of 4 lacs per annum, 40 times that of their family's earnings in a span of four years. Majority of this community plough back their earnings to improve the livelihood of their parents toiling hard in the farmlands of Bihar. Few who manage to go abroad for research in the US universities remit monies creating an indelible impact on the local economy and social infrastructure.
At one end of the spectrum when we have the Kalmadi's and Raja's of the world swindling billions of dollars of tax-payer's income, its a bright spot to witness this silent social revolution gaining momentum from one of the pristine and intellectual part of India - Bihar!
Truly inspiring... take a bow to Abhay Kumar Singh and class of "Super 30"
