Bihar’s 'IIT Village': 28 Students from Patwa Toli Crack JEE Main

More than 40 students from Patwa Toli, a village in Bihar’s Gaya district known as the ‘IIT village’, have cleared this year’s JEE Main exam. Among them, 28 students studied at Vriksh, a free coaching centre started by former IITians to support children from weaver families and low-income backgrounds.
Patwa Toli’s journey towards producing engineers began in 1991, when Jitendra Patwa became the first person from the village to enter IIT. He became an inspiration in the village and many others began to enter IIT following in his footsteps.

Before Patwa Toli became known for producing IIT graduates, locals were involved in weaving. But Jitendra ignited IIT dream among the villagers.

To help the next generation, some of the IIT graduates from the village formed local groups to guide aspiring students. In 2013, an engineer from the village, Chandrakant Pateshwari, set up ‘Vriksh’, an organisation to provide free coaching and study help to students who could not afford private tuition. The centre uses a library-style setup, with online classes and lessons given by IIT alumni and volunteers from cities like Delhi and Mumbai.

Thanks to these efforts, the number of successful entrants to IIT from this village has kept growing over the years. Today, nearly every house in the village has at least one engineer.

More girls are also going for higher studies now, which was rare earlier. The village has slowly changed from a weaving-based place to one known for its focus on education and engineering success today. - TWL Bureau