Over 40 students from Patwa Toli, a village in Bihar’s Gaya district famous for churning out IITians, have made it to the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains Session 2 in 2025. Their achievement is keeping the tradition of this village alive, which is popularly referred to as Bihar’s “IIT factory.

The results announced on April 19 make the students eligible for the May 18 JEE Advanced examination. Of this year’s achievers, 28 are from Vriksha Sansthan, a free coaching program for economically backward children, especially weaver family children.

Vriksha Sansthan’s Role in Nurturing Talent

Vriksha Sansthan, founded in 2013 by ex-IITians, has played a significant role in mentoring low-income students from Patwa Toli to top engineering colleges. The center offers free coaching for competitive exams such as JEE, allowing many poor students to aspire big.

Among them is Sagar Kumar, who achieved 94.8 percentile. He explained how Vriksha Sansthan helped him after losing his father at birth.

I wish to work for the nation by becoming an engineer. I received help from Vriksha Sansthan, which labors for weaver children of Patwa Toli. I studied there and succeeded,” Sagar informed ETV Bharat.

Another success story, Pratik, whose father is a gatekeeper at IIM Bodh Gaya, attained 96.35 percentile, whereas Asmita Kumari got 91.82 percentile under economic difficulties.

Shubham Kumar from Jamui shifted to Patwa Toli in preparation for the exam. By persistent hard work and devotion, he too passed JEE Mains.

Patwa Toli Top Scorers

Below are top village scorers in JEE Mains 2025:

Sharanya – 99.64 percentile
Alok – 97.7 percentile
Shaurya – 97.53 percentile
Yash Raj – 97.38 percentile
Shubham – 96.7 percentile
Pratik – 96.35 percentile
Ketan – 96.00 percentile
Nivas – 95.7 percentile
Gaurika Yadav – 95.1 percentile
Sagar Kumar – 94.8 percentile

From Weaving Looms to Engineering Dreams

Patwa Toli was once famous mostly for its colorful handloom business and was popularly referred to as the “Manchester of Bihar.” That changed in 1991, when Jitendra Patwa became the first villager to get into IIT. His success ignited a revolution in the aspirations of the community.

Jitendra is now based in the United States and still contributes to his community through his non-profit organization, Vriksh We The Change, which helps mold the future of young dreamers from his village.

The IIT dream has reached almost every family since then. With a population of approximately 20,000, the village now churns out dozens of engineers annually, cementing its image as an academic powerhouse.