Government scheme helps boy from Virudhunagar get admission to NIT Rourkela

The Hindu

16-06-2025

Efforts of the Virudhunagar district administration in identifying the best-performing students and giving them focussed training has helped another government school student from an economically weaker background get admission into a premier national educational institution.
M. Ajay Kumar, a student of Government Higher Secondary School, Ilupaiyur has benefited under the Naan Mudhalvan Scheme and has got admission for Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela.
The son of a truck driver, Ajay Kumar, was identified for the programme by his school Headmistress, Parameswari. 'It was the Headmistress who encouraged me to set my goals higher. I only followed her advice,' said Ajay Kumar. He was motivated when the district Collector V.P. Jeyaseelan gave a pep talk to select students at one of the Coffee with Collector programmes, said Kumar.
Expert guidance and support provided
Kumar said that he was given coaching and reading materials for the JEE Mains. Eventually, he cleared the exam and got admitted into NIT-Rourkela. 'My teachers helped me to select the courses,' he added. All his educational expenses will be taken care of by the Tamil Nadu government.
'We selected the best-performing students under each reservation category, such as Scheduled Tribes and persons with disabilities, and provided them with focused online training, expert-guided application and choice filling support through our dedicated control room,' Mr. Jeyaseelan said.
Out of the 230 students trained, around 30 have cleared the exams and are expected to get admissions from premier Central institutes such as the IITs and the Institute of Fashion Technology, the Collector added.
Logeshwari Selvam, a student from Government higher Secondary School in Padanthal, who had received training through the Naan Mudhalvan scheme, also got admission for Aerospace Engineering in IIT Bombay.