Shimla, November 26: For Atul Yadav, in his early 20s', a dream has come true as he has landed a job in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) -- the official space agency of the Government of India. His joining is expected in July next year.

Atul's selection was confirmed earlier in the week, after the ISRO concluded its campus recruitment programme at IIT-Mandi. During the interview, the student told reporters, he had failed to answer two questions. However, his honest approach and confidence, along with thorough understanding of the basic concept, impressed the recruiters. ISRO’s First Unmanned Mission Under Gaganyaan Programme Planned for December 2020.

Notably, Atul is a son of a farmer based in Madhya Pradesh's remote village Bhind. While he completed his schooling from the village, Atul moved to Kota three years ago for IIT-JEE preparations.

Although he succeeded to secure a berth in IIT-Mandi, Atul has been highly critical of the atmosphere in coaching institutes, calling them "unhealthy and extremely stressful".

Instead, he added, the focus of the government should be to improve the education imparted in public schools. The curriculum, as well as the quality of discourse, should be elevated to the extent where students would not be compelled to enroll with a coaching institute.

Atul, pursuing the final years of B Tech programme at IIT-Mandi, was among the 20 students interviewed by ISRO for junior-scientist post. He is alone from his class to bag the coveted job, and only the second from the entire batch.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 26, 2018 08:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).