He helped brother get into NIT, follows him
polio-affected brother got admission in the NIT (National Institute of Technology), Agartala last year, and this year he joined the NIT, Allahabad.
Basant Kumar (19) from Samastipur district of Bihar every day carried his disabled elder brother Krishna Kumar (20) on his shoulders to Allen Career Institute in Kota for coaching classes from 2014 to 2016. He has been carrying Krishna on his shoulders since his brother joined school at their Paroriya village about 15 years ago.
Krishna bagged all-India rank (AIR) 38 in the physically challenged category of JEE Advanced 2016, and Basant 3675 rank in the other backward classes (OBC) list. Krishna got into NIT, Agartala, but Basant’s rank was not good enough to ensure him a seat in a premier engineering institute. Basant did not lose hope. After helping out Krishna for his admission in Agartala, he again took coaching last year from Allen for IIT-JEE. He secured 2494 AIR this year and became eligible for admission in information and technology branch at NIT, Allahabad.
“I have been allotted NIT Allahabad and will join it later this month,” said Basant who is in Kota now.
Asked how Krishna is going for studies in Agartala without him, Basant said, “NIT authorities have provided him (Krishna) a manual wheelchair, and a van picks him from his hostel room and drops him at the NIT centre.”
He said Krishna has got a room with attached bathroom. “Recently NIT authorities have shifted a student to Krishna’s room for helping him in times of need.”
Asked why didn’t he use a wheelchair to take Krishna to coaching classes in Kota, Basant said apart from financial crunch, they were ignorant about using a wheelchair. “I was also keen to serve my brother, so I carried him on my back instead of using a wheelchair.”
Krishna and Basant have four more brothers, and their father Madan Pandit owns 5 beeghas land in their village. Their elder brothers Rajesh and Shravan work in a motor garage in Mumbai and partly bear expenses of their education.