In India, we have scholarships run by prestigious private corporations such as TATA Group, Aditya Birla Group and HDFC Bank and we also have scholarships offered by the government. Academic institutions, NGOs, trusts also offer scholarships to aid students who want to excel in academics and not drop out due to lack of financial assistance.
Careers360 spoke to Rohit Kumar who was able to realise his academic goals of graduating from the renowned IIT-Delhi. This is his success story…
“I am Rohit Kumar, twenty seven years of age working as a software developer at Microsoft, in Bengaluru. I want to tell the youngsters how I could accomplish my dream of completing a BTech in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT-Delhi.
I hail from Darbhanga, Bihar. We are a family of five – mom-dad, two sisters and myself. I come from a very weak financial background – my father was a daily wage labourer and my mother worked as a maid. I worked as a newspaper vendor for six years. My younger sister is differently-abled, so whatever meagre income we collected was spent on her medicines.
Indian academic institutions encourage students across communities, I belong to the Schedule Caste category and had to depend on government schools to access school education. I completed Class 10 and 12 from a Bihar State Board school. I was good at my studies. Maths and Computers were my favourite subjects. I got 81 per cent in class 10 and 89 per cent in Class 12. In Class 12, I was the district topper in my category (SC).”
Quite naturally, I wished to get admission in any of the IITs as I loved technology and engineering. I studied on my own and referred to various YouTube channels for the entrance exams. I also used to buy class notes and mock test papers from Allen Career Institute for my preparations.
When I scored good marks in Class 10, I was awarded the Post-Matric Scholarship for SC Students by the Bihar government. I spent my entire scholarship money to buy books and test series that were important for the JEE exam. Right from Class 8, despite my poor financial condition, I was determined to study engineering at any of the IITs. Without this scholarship, I would have not made it to the IIT. I didn’t face any difficulty in getting my scholarship, the scholarship money used to get credited to my student bank account.
After I cleared the JEE entrance exam, I got selected for IIT Delhi. My paternal uncles took care of my monthly expenses which used to be around Rs 2000. To fund his BTech course, he got Rs 11,00,000 as an education loan from PNB (Punjab National Bank). My uncle helped me a lot to get this education loan and he has also paid the loan back.
My years at the IIT-Delhi campus were the most memorable. I loved studying there and made a lot of friends from different states of India. There would be fests, quizzes, sports, and company tours along with routine assignments. I simply enjoyed the hostel life.
I want to add here that the scholarships for Economically Weaker Section students are a boon. Without scholarships, financially weak students will have to discontinue their studies and earn to manage their families. Their professional dreams end and most of them end up taking odd jobs just to survive.
Today, thanks to financial aid, I was able to complete my BTech and get a well-paying job. My only advice to young students is work hard from the start and ensure that you get good marks in your SSC and HSC as it really works in getting government-aided as well as private scholarships.
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