> potentially more intelligent than the poorest group
It's easy to think this but its not true. There is just a ton of privilege involved in life. There are groups in India who purely tutor slum kids to the top IITs(the JEE exams in India are very hard).
Sorry I’m not familiar with Indian culture and power structures.
They said "on average". Selecting 30 of the most talented from the poorest group does not contradict that.