Visually impaired Jannu Nagababu from Vuyyuru village in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, has created history. He is all set to pursue a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) Course. However, this youth from a poor family did not get a B.Tech. seat straight away. He waged a legal battle against the institutions which denied him his right on grounds that he was visually impaired.

Nagababu passed out of the Government School for Blind, Hyderabad, with good grades in S.S.C exams. With encouragement from the then commissioner for technical education A K Sukumar and Venkata Ramana, principal of AANM and VVRSR Polytechnic College, Gudlavalleru, he completed his diploma in computer engineering with high scores. In fact, he set a record of being the first visually challenged to earn a diploma in computer engineering.

His trouble began when the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (J.N.T.U), Hyderabad, denied him permission to appear for the Engineering Common Entrance Test (E.C.E.T) stating that visually impaired candidates were not eligible to pursue professional courses.

He challenged them in court; the High Court directed the J.N.T.U authorities to permit him to take E.C.E.T. He went on to obtain 70th rank at the state-level E.C.E.T.

But the authorities at J.N.T.U withheld his results. He approached the court again and yet again the court gave ruling in his favour. A four-member expert committee of the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education also declared him fit to pursue the B.Tech course.

Ultimately, the government had to issue an order granting him admission on October 7, 2005. Expressing happiness on having won his long legal battle, he said: "I want to become a successful software engineer."

He is keen to join the Gudlavalleru Engineering College. The college management has decided to bear all his educational expenses, besides taking care of his boarding and lodging.