Anand Kumar got rank 5 in CLATSon of a retired Armyman, 20-year-old Anand Kumar faced a setback when he couldn’t clear NEET, the exam for undergraduate medical courses. But some guidance from his senior from school, who works with the Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access (IDIA), an NGO which provides legal education to underprivileged students, helped him chart a new career path.
Kumar, who hails from Masaurhi village, around 30 km from Patna, scored rank 5 in the recently held Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2020, the exam to get into the country’s premier law universities. “Since it was a new field, my parents and I were initially apprehensive,” Kumar, who studied at St Mary’s School in his village and is now looking forward to college, said.
He is one of three students helped by IDIA in cracking the exam. Jai Singh Rathor (18), who scored the third rank, hails from Patna, where his father runs a kirana store. And Yashwant Kumar (18), who scored rank 48, is the son of a mechanic from Masaurhi.
“My father does not get pension, and my elder sister (22) is also preparing for the BPSC. So funds were low. The IDIA helped with filling up the form, which costs Rs 4,000, and study materials,” Anand Kumar said.
Ever since June, online classes were held from late night till early morning, since most students were free only then.
In a statement, IDIA said, “Many of our other trainees have also performed well and around 12 are expected to get a seat at some of the top national law universities”.
IDIA was founded by the late Prof (Dr) Shamnad Basheer in 2010 as a student-run movement. Currently, the IDIA Charitable Trust comprises Justice Ruma Pal, a former Supreme Court judge; Prof M P Singh, a leading legal scholar; and Shishira Rudrappa, director, Spire Capital.
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