Trichy collector’s aid for government school boy who aced JEE

TRICHY: A couple of days after TOI highlighted the steely resolve of an impoverished government school student from Manapparai who cleared JEE Advanced exam and is all set to gain admission to an IIT, the Trichy district administration has come forward to provide financial assistance to him.
District collector S Sivarasu on Sunday handed over a cheque of Rs 85,000 to P Arun Kumar, a native of Karadipatty, who cracked the exam in his first attempt.
The 17-year-old-boy, son of a daily wage labourer, had cleared JEE Advanced by securing an all-India rank of 12,175 and OBC-NCL rank of 2,503.
Son of N Ponnalagan and P Ponnathal, Arun Kumar was a student of government higher secondary school, Sevalpatti. His parents expressed their gratitude to the district collector for extending the financial assistance to their son.
Arun Kumar was trained by NIT-Trichy students under IGNITTE, the teaching club of the institute which provides free coaching for competitive exams to students of government schools.
In 2019, two such students had cracked JEE Mains and bagged a seat in NIT Trichy.
Another cleared NEET and secured a seat in Stanley Medical College, Chennai.