In Maoist-affected Gaya district of Bihar, students aim at IITs, NITs

Schoolchildren and youths, who once idealised self-styled Maoist commanders, are now looking up to IIT and NIT students from the Left wing extremist-hit south central Bihar for inspiration.

Once considered a Maoist stronghold, the stretch from Bodh Gaya to Dumaria-Imamganj in Gaya district, 100 km south of Patna, has undergone a metamorphosis with schoolchildren abandoning the idea of picking up guns and sweating it out to join premier engineering institutions.

Among them is Ashwini Kumar Gunjan, nephew of one of the most wanted Maoists Sandeep Yadav.

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“I had to relocate at Gaya from my village for pursuing my studies. After completing matriculation from Jai Hind Public School at Gaya, I joined the Magadh Super-30 that offers free coaching to students aspiring for admission to engineering colleges, ” said Gunjan, who has made it to National Institute of Technology (NIT), Jamshedpur.

A native of Lutua village in Bankebazar police station area of Gaya district, Gunjan and his father Bindeshwari Prasad Mandal had to drop Yadav as their surname to escape identification with Sandeep Yadav, an accused in Dumarinala encounter that killed six CRPF soldiers on Gaya-Aurangabad borders in 2016.

Sounds of gunshots and bomb explosions still scare Soni Rashmi of Bhadwar village in Imamganj police station area. Maoists had blown up her house in 2009. But her family never succumbed to the pressure and ensured good education for Rashmi, who is pursuing her final year in engineering at NIT, Sikkim. “My role models are my seniors who have already made it to either IIT or NIT. I want to crack the UPSC after obtaining my engineering degree,” said Rashmi.

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The list of boys and girls from the Maoist-hit areas who are studying in premier engineering colleges includes Mukul Angad (IIT-Delhi) of Warisaliganj, Sanjeet Kumar Yadav (IIT-Mumbai) of Guli village in Chandauti block, Shivam (IIT-Kharagpur) of Cherki village in Chandauti block, Chaitanya (IIT-Delhi) of Mocharim village in Bodh Gaya police station area, Sonu Gupta (IIT-Guwahati) of Pakari-Guria village in Bankebazar police station area and Gaurav Gupta (IIM-Mumbai) of Sherghati.

The man behind their success story is Pankaj Kumar who looks after the Magadh Super-30, set up at Gaya by former Bihar director general of police (DGP) Abhyanand. More than 50 students of Magadh Super-30 are now senior executives in top private and public sector companies. They are also extending their helping hands to shape the career of children from the region that has virtually been under the gun shadow of Maoists for more than three decades.

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“The Magadh Super-30 charges nothing and provides food and accommodation, apart from teaching by the best possible faculty, free of cost,” said Pankaj Kumar.

“Or motto is ‘Samaj ke liye, samaj ke dwara (for the society, by the society)’ and we have been sweating it out to pick up diamonds from a coalmine. The children who cannot afford high cost coaching, find their ultimate destination at Magdh Super-30,” he added.