PALAKKAD: M Krishnadas, a tribal student from the remote Kalkandiyur tribal hamlet of Kottathara in Attapadi on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, has become the first tribal student from the district to secure MTech degree from IIT-Palakkad.
He received the PG degree in Manufacturing and Material Engineering. In 2020, Krishnadas passed GATE and got admission for MTech at IIT-Palakkad. Belonging to the Irula tribal group, Krishnadas has become the first tribal from the district to get admission into any IIT.
He is the son of Makkulan and Savithri, who are daily wage earners. His younger brother Somaraj is doing his 2nd year BA course at Sree Krishna College, Thrissur, and his youngest brother Mahesh is a Plus II student in a school at Agali. Krishnadas completed BTech from NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad.
He did his schooling at Pattancheri Government High School. K Vijayasekharan, retired principal of KKM HSS, Vandithavalam, had spotted Krishnadas and let him live in his house. Vijaysekharan provided him with special tuition in Mathematics and English. “My achievements are due to the help of my mentor Vijayasekharan master. This is an encouragement to many deprived tribal students,” Krishnadas said.
