Hyderabad: Age no barrier to study for this Army veteran

In the recent Degree Online Service Telangana 2023 first phase seat allotment, Shetty who celebrated his 75th birthday on June 11, secured a seat in Noble Degree College in Dilsukhnagar

Hyderabad: At an age where his counterparts spend their time with grandchildren or go on pilgrimages, 75 years-old K Nag Shetty will be sharing his desk with teenagers as he commences classwork for BA in History, Political Science and Public Administration programme on July 17.

In the recent Degree Online Service Telangana (DOST) 2023 first phase seat allotment, Shetty who celebrated his 75th birthday on June 11, secured a seat in Noble Degree College in Dilsukhnagar.

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Says the septuagenarian, “my family and I are really happy about receiving seat allotment in a course which I wanted to study. I will happily sit with my fellow classmates and pursue the course. If required I will take guidance from them.”

After scoring 76.04 per cent in the Intermediate Public Examinations 2023 with CEC group, Shetty intended to pursue a BA course. However, the cut-off age for enrolling was hindrance for this Army veteran as he was 1949 born and the upper age limit was 1966. After a representation to the Telangana State Council of Higher Education, the DOST website was tweaked enabling him enroll for the degree admission.

Shetty, a resident of Shivaji Nagar in Uppuguda, passed the SSLC (Class X) in Kannada medium from a school in Bidar, Karnataka. Later, he joined the Indian Army and took part in India-Pakistan 1971 war in Kargil sector. After serving for 21-and-half years, he retired as a Junior Commissioned Officer and another 21 years he worked as a security officer in the private firms.

“After completing the degree course, I will pursue a PG and later LLB programme. I want to become a social activist and help people particularly from lower strata,” the Army veteran added.