Bhopal: Call them the Miracle 55. These many students from Jhabua, a tribal zone with a literacy rate of just 43.3%, have cleared the IIT-JEE Mains this year.Most of them belong to small villages and have to walk several kilometres to reach their government-run schools. Access to a professional coaching institute was not even a dream, it was plain impossible.But thanks to a young IAS officer, Anurag Chaudhary, the CEO of Jhabua zilla panchayat, impossible isn't a word these kids like to use now. "The challenge was that Jhabua had high illiteracy rate and even those who study hardly opt for mathematics despite being bright students," he said.Chaudhary roped in the best government schoolteachers of physics, chemistry and mathematics and they took classes for the students after school hours and on holidays. It worked like a charm.Mohit Kutsena, one of those who has cleared IIT-JEE this time, travelled 12km a day, sometimes on foot, to reach his school but says he did not mind it "because there were people willing to put their faith in me". "Coaching after school hours helped me a lot, particularly in chemistry. I want to be a computer engineer. The support I got here will help me realise my dreams," he said.Another student, Rohit Bhuria of Kalyanpura village in Jhabua, walks 3km to reach school. "The guidance by teachers helped me clear the exam. I am more determined than ever to succeed," he said.Expenses for this mission were met by pooling in funds received under different government schemes. "This special coaching has been on for two years now. The number of selected students has gone up to 55 from 30 last year," said an official.Those who cleared the Mains will now be sent to Indore to prepare for IIT-JEE Advanced. The government will take care of their boarding, lodging and education expenses.This success story is inspiring a quiet revolution in this impoverished region. Till two years back, barely 200 students would choose mathematics, but now over 2,000 students are opting for it in higher studies, said an official."We identified the bright students and motivated them. Special arrangements were made for each to prepare them for the challenge. Students were taught how to attempt the paper to score maximum marks. The target for next year is get 150 students to qualify in the JEE-Mains," said Chaudhary.The successful 55 will leave for Indore within three days. "We are making arrangements to hold coaching classes through video conferencing in Jhabua and have requested retired professors and experts from outside to give their time for the purpose," he added.

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