IITs all over India are considered to be the most elite institutions in our country. But a boy who scored an all-India rank of 270, lost his secured admission seat within a fortnight due to an accidental mistake.
As per a report in TOI, an 18-year old orphaned teen named Siddhanth Batra lost his ‘Electrical engineering BTech’ seat at IIT-Bombay after inadvertently clicking the wrong link while checking for updates on his roll number. He clicked the link which said ‘Withdraw from seat allocation and further rounds’ under the “bonafide belief” that he was not required for further admission rounds.
IIT-B said that while it cannot reverse the loss, but it can offer him a second go, directly through JEE-Advanced in 2021. He has thus filed a petition to the Supreme Court, saying that it would mean a year lost. The SC is expected to hear the petition this week.
In response, SRM University Andhra Pradesh (SRMAP) came forward and extended an admission offer to him with a full scholarship:
@SRMUAP will be glad to grant admission to the brilliant student Siddhanth Batra, all-India rank 270 in JEE with a 100% tuition fee waiver for 4 years, along with free accommodation and food.@swatidTOI @SRM_Univ @SRMUAP https://t.co/87VIxUTMgA
— SRM University – AP, Andhra Pradesh (@SRMUAP) November 30, 2020
Dr. V Nagaraja Naidu, who is the founder registrar of Dr. B R Ambedkar Open University also wrote in response to Siddhanth’s “unfortunate” elimination, and prompted him to “contact V Sambasiva Rao, vice-chancellor of SRMAP for help.”
There was also a major outpouring of support on social media with the hashtag #JusticeForSiddhanth:
I've been friends with this person for the entirety of my high school years and he's such a pure soul. Hardworking beyond measure, lively and one of the sharpest minds. Gradually losing all his reasons to smile, I hope he doesn't have to lose this one. #JusticeForSiddhant #iitB https://t.co/ReV3cvuhbq
— Aadya Madan (@madanadi28) November 30, 2020
It pains a lot when the success achieved by a tremendous hard work of 3-4 years gets vanished. Hope that supreme court provides justice to my well deserving friend.#JusticeForSiddhant #IIT #iitbombay https://t.co/84NWjvquX2
— Chayan Ailawalia (@Chayan58468423) November 30, 2020
In the trying times of Covid-19, when online counselling is happening for the first time, don't you think extreme technicalities should be avoided and considering the mental stress of the students this year, shouldn't their problems be put first? #JusticeForSiddhant #IITB
— Kushagra Goyal (@Kushagra0028) December 1, 2020
I request @iitbombay to provide another seat for him, it takes a lot of hard work to achieve that rank.
It is also a genuine case. @DG_NTA Next please keep a warning "if you have secured a seat then exiting will result in losing of seat". #JusticeForSiddhant— Parth Sheth (@INFJ_Parth) December 1, 2020
Tomorrow the same guy will make this country proud if we support him today…..
One mistake should not ruin career of such a bright mind#JusticeForSiddhant pic.twitter.com/sURAIcKMuk— Trivendra Rajput (@Brajvasi_rajput) November 30, 2020
Siddhanth was being raised by a single mother, but was left orphaned 2 years ago following her death. He had scored almost 96% marks in the Class XII CBSE exam and strove to achieve his goal of securing a seat of his choice in electrical engineering at IIT-B.
We hope that he is able to realize all his dreams, despite the hurdles that have come his way.
Cover Image Source- Left