Srinagar: A poverty-stricken youth, whose father was shot dead by militants when he was two months old, has cracked the prestigious IIT entrance examination but had to almost give up the idea of taking admission.
Even the Rs 10,000 counselling fee was too much of an ask for 21-year-old Zahid Ahmad Qureshi. But help has poured in with the Army assuring all assistance to him to pursue his studies.
"The boy will be given the required money to complete his training and we will see to it that lack of money will not be an obstacle for him to achieve his goal," a senior Army officer said.
Qureshi, a resident of remote Glaiend Kalan village of Kupwara, was among three students of 'Kashmir Super-30' who have cleared JEE-Advanced for admission to the prestigious IITs in the recently declared results.
The 'Super-30' programme launched by the Indian Army last year is run by Srinagar-based Chinar Corps in collaboration with the NGO 'Centre for corporate Social responsibility and leadership'.
"We have contacted the boy and assured all help to him to pursue his studies," the officer said.
Under Army's Kashmir Super-30 programme, each year 30 students belonging to economically backward background are selected and made to undergo one year coaching for IIT exams under expert faculty from Delhi.
Last year one student cleared IIT while rest were selected for NIT and SSM College Srinagar.
This year, the results were most encouraging with 12 candidates clearing JEE-main and the three clearing JEE-Advanced.
