Nine students studying under the free state-level Aakanksha-40 programme, run by the department of school education and literacy have successfully qualified for the Joint Entrance Examination ( JEE) Advanced 2026. The students have become eligible for admission to various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) across the country.

The Aakanksha Yojana was launched during the 2016-17 academic session with the objective of providing quality education and competitive examination coaching to meritorious students from economically weaker sections studying in government schools. Under the scheme, selected students receive free coaching for engineering, medical and Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) entrance examinations. Students are selected through a competitive screening process after passing the JAC board examinations and are provided academic mentoring along with free residential facilities, accommodation, food and study materials.

According to officials, a total of 32 students from the programme appeared for the JEE Advanced 2026 examination, out of which nine successfully qualified. Among the successful candidates, Shubham Kumar Barnwal secured a category rank of 324, while Vineet Kumar secured 4293 rank. Mahadev Mandal obtained 7475 rank, Mithlesh Kumar Das secured 4552 rank and Ratan Rajak scored a rank of 6489. Other successful candidates include Sumit Anish Begg, who secured a rank of 1204, Bishu Hembrom with 1699 rank, Monika Kujur with 2172 rank and Sonal Ekka with 3812 rank.

VK Singh, state coordinator of Aakanksha 40, said, “The state government bears the complete cost of education for students enrolled in the programme. The candidates are provided free of cost lodging, food and study materials. Every year, students from the programme successfully clear competitive examinations in engineering and medical streams. Last year, 13 students from the flagship programme had qualified for the JEE Advanced.”