TRICHY: For a 17-year-old S Prasanth, the son of tribal farmers from the Jawadhu Hills in Tiruvannamalai district, years of hard work by his parents have culminated in a moment he once only dreamed of. Soon, he will walk into the campus of NIT Puducherry as an engineering student — something he says will change not only his future but also that of his family. Prasanth is among six students from Tamil Nadu who studied in schools operated by the adi dravidar and tribal welfare department and have secured seats in premier institutions after the first round of JoSAA (Joint Seat Allocation Authority) counselling results were announced on Saturday. While four students secured seats in premier institutions last year, six students secured seats at the end of the first round of counselling this year, with officials expecting the number to increase after the completion of all counselling rounds. Of the six students, five belong to the tribal community and one belongs to the SC community. Niranjana R, a student of ADW school in Nachikulam, Madurai district, has secured a seat in metallurgical and materials engineering at NIT Andhra Pradesh. Three students — Bharath S, a student of GTR school in Mullukurichi, Namakkal district; Sivakanth A, a student of GTR school in Top Sengattupatty, Trichy district; and Dharmashree S, a student of EMRS School in Abivanam, Salem district — have secured seats at NIT Trichy in instrumentation and control engineering, civil engineering, and metallurgical and materials engineering, respectively. The other two students, Divakar A and Prasanth S, from GTR Schools in Nammiyampattu and Attiyanur in Tiruvannamalai district, have secured seats at Puducherry technological university and NIT Puducherry (Karaikal), respectively, for Electrical and Electronics Engineering.“During the half yearly holidays, we were given training at a camp in Mallur by the department, which was very helpful to get selected in JEE mains. Then in Cuddalore, we were trained for cracking JEE Advanced, which is considered a very tough competitive exam,” says Dharmashree S, whose parents are farmers in Kolli hills in Nammakal district. Department sources told TOI that they had conducted intensive training for the students to produce these results. “There were three training camps. One during quarterly and half yearly holidays. Then after public exams and now even as they have cleared, we continue to give preparatory training camp at EMRS Kumizhi.”Eighteen tribal students have also secured Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology (CIPET) in Bhubaneswar through CIPET JEE entrance, the source said. “All expenses for all the students are to be borne by the Tamil Nadu govt,” the source added. HM V Nagarajan of Top Sengattupatti in Trichy district said the GTR school has constantly been performing well on all fronts. “The results just motivate us to do better every time for the betterment of students,” he said.
