‘Only education can reclaim dignity’: Inside a Dalit boy’s struggle for IIT seat

In June, Atul Kumar cleared JEE (Advanced) and got an electrical engineering seat at the IIT Dhanbad. The 18-year-old son of a tailor in Titira village of Muzaffarnagar is the second person from his family to crack the IIT entrance exam. 

The feat was a matter of pride for not just his Dalit family living on the periphery of the Gujjar-dominated village but for his entire community. But Kumar was unable to submit the admission fee of Rs 17,500 and lost his seat. 

Kumar and his family subsequently approached the ST/SC Commission, Jharkhand High Court, Madras High Court, and finally the Supreme Court to reclaim the seat. Three months later, the top court finally ruled that the seat be allotted to him, saying, “we cannot allow such a young talented boy to go away”. 

His father Rajendra Kumar told Newslaundry, “We would have gone to any extent to get that seat back. Because only education can reclaim the dignity of Dalits in our society.”

But how was Kumar’s journey? Watch the full video. 

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