Help pours in for labourer's sons who cleared IIT test

Help poured in for the two sons of a Dalit labourer from Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh district after they cracked the IIT entrance test but did not have the money to pay the fee.

Raju and Brijesh were among the IIT top-500. While Raju secured 167th rank, his elder brother Brijesh was placed at 410. Their father Dharmraj Saroj, a daily wager at a factory in Surat in Gujarat, earns barely enough to make two ends meet. 

“I do not have Rs 1 lakh to pay for the fee of my sons,” Saroj said. Raju said that they had also approached the banks but they refused to provide loan for admission. “The banks said that they could consider the loan applications only after the admission,” Raju added.

Help came from UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Sulabh, a voluntary organisation, active in the field of sanitation.

“The UP government will bear the admission fee and other expenses to be incurred on the study of Raju and Brijesh,” said a state government spokesman.

According to family members, Rahul also spoke to the brothers and assured them financial help to complete their studies at IIT. 
Congress Rajya Sabha member Pramod Tewari, who too hails from Pratapgarh, also announced that he would give his one month salary to the brothers.

Sulabh founder director Bindeshar Pathak said on Saturday that his organization would give “full financial support” for admission and education of the two brothers.

The family had no land at all. They had a few goats and cycles. The two brothers, who had scored over 95 per cent marks in high school examinations, pursued their further studies with the help of scholarships. Dharmraj is now hopeful that his sons would be able to pursue their dream.