Koya boy from Mancherial makes it to IIT
Hailing from one of the most interior villages of the district, Nagaram in Vemanapalli mandal, Rajesh’s father Shankar is a marginal farmer who owns a two-acre piece of land.
Mancherial: Naitham Rajesh scripted a record of sorts by securing a seat to pursue engineering course at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Varanasi. He is the first boy belonging to the Koya community, one of the Scheduled Tribes, in the district.
Hailing from one of the most interior villages of the district, Nagaram in Vemanapalli mandal, Rajesh’s father Shankar is a marginal farmer who owns a two-acre piece of land. Despite financial constraints and tacky transportation facilities, the boy fared well in academics and achieved the opportunity by excelling in JEE-Advanced. He secured 924th rank in the entrance.
“Rajesh is the first student from Koya tribe to secure a seat in IIT. Thus, he has become a role model to his counterparts belonging to the community known for backwardness and poor literacy. He is one of the brilliant students to pass out from the institution,” Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institution, the Centre of Excellence (Boys)-Bellampalli principal Inala Saidulu remarked.
Rajesh carried an impeccable academic record despite facing struggles in pursuing education. He studied intermediate (MPC) at the CoE. He registered 938 marks out of 1,000 in the results of Intermediate. He registered 9.5 grade points average in Class X. He had schooled from a government Ashram School at Chennur town.
“I was unable to attend classes at the Ashram school located 40 kilometres away from my native place during monsoon. The stream between Vemanapalli and Chennur used to overflow due to incessant rains, resulting in isolation of out village. I was assisting my father in agriculture activities whenever I was home,” he recalled.
Similarly, the tribal boy was not familiar with English language which was the medium of instruction at the CoE. He, however, managed to overcome the barrier with help of his teachers and by laying a special focus on improving his communication skills. He stated that he would choose a career in designing structures of drugs in the future.
Rajesh was felicitated by the principal and vice-principal V Pramod Kumar, lectures Mitta Ramesh, Sriram Varma, Chanda Laxminarayana, A Anirudh, teachers Ansurya, Shankar, Datta Prasad and Srinivas for achieving the seat. He thanked Saidulu and the lecturers for imparting quality education and extending unwavering support to him.
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