Muslims in Civil Services: Success Stories of Minority Institutions — Jamia Hamdard Residential Coaching Academy

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Part Two
Tazeem Haider | India Tomorrow
New Delhi, April 29— Like every year, the result of the Civil Services Examination 2018-19 gave a reason to many Muslim candidates to cheer up. This year, 30 Muslim candidates cracked the civil services examination. While Junaid Ahmad from Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh captured third rank in All India Ranking of UPSC, Shahid Raza, who hails from a madrasa background and currently, is a Ph.D. student in JNU, also cracked the civil services exams scoring 751th rank. Another aspirant, Abdul Jaleel, whose coaching was guided by Zakat Foundation of India (ZFI) also cleared his exam bagging the 434th rank.

Like Zakat Foundation, there are some other institutions also which provide either free coaching or at minimal fees to the IAS aspirants, especially who hail from modest social or economic backgrounds. These institutions are run by experienced guiding figures and light bearers who often themselves have been civil servants who selflessly devote their life to make the dreams of their aspiring students come true. One of them is Jamia Hamdard Residential Coaching Academy.

India Tomorrow interviewed one such figure, S M Khan, who is currently serving as Director, Jamia Hamdard Residential Coaching Academy (JHRCA), Hamdard University. S M Khan is a 1982 batch Indian Information Services (IIS) officer. He has served CBI for over 13 years presiding over some of the biggest investigations like Hansal Mehta scam, Rajiv Gandhi assassination, Bofors among others. Besides his association with Jamia Hamdard, he is currently serving as Director General (Press Registrar and Head of Department), Registrar of Newspapers in India. He has also served for Director General of Doordarshan News for over three years.

Excerpts from Interview:

What is the purpose of Jamia Hamdard Residential Coaching Academy?
We conduct coaching for civil services preparations. The Academy is meant for minorities, SC/STs and women and this academy has also been funded by University Grants Commission. Every year we take 100 students — 70 boys and 30 girls to coach them for civil services. We have also conducted coaching for junior services of staff selection commission examination.

What has been the success rate of JHRCA so far?
Every year, about 20 percent of our students get selected for the services which include IAS, IPS, Foreign Services, IRS, IIS, Railway services, then state services like PCS in UP and Bihar administrative services, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Karnataka state services and likewise in every state. This year also, according to the result which was announced on April 5, seven candidates from the academy were finally selected for the civil services. Recently, four of our students got selected in Bihar administrative services and three students were selected in UPPCS. Similarly, in last year’s exam, nine students from our academy got selected for various services. Last year, Fazlul Haseeb, who got 36th rank in the Civil Services, was the student of JHRCA. The year before last year, our student Bilal Bhatt got 10th rank.

What is the criterion set by JHRCA for the selection of students for coaching?

This is a continuous process. Our students are selected through an all India entrance test which we conduct in October. We receive almost 5000 applications from all over the country. The applicants take a written exam, followed by interviews and group discussions. We select 300 students on the basis of our written exams. After interviews and group discussion, we finally select 100 students. However, this year, with the collaboration of India Islamic Cultural Centre (IICC), we have selected 125 students. The coaching of these 25 students is funded by IICC.

As opposed to money making coaching centres, what is the fee structure for the aspirants at JHRCA?
In all, it is a free coaching and we do not charge students with anything. Free coaching includes everything from study materials, lectures, sessions etc. Accommodation is arranged by Hamdard University. Students have to pay for food which we provide them at subsidized rates. We mostly receive students from middle class and lower middle class as coaching elsewhere is expensive. They take up to Rs. 4 lacs of fees whereas we provide it for free while matching the same standard.

Do students join your institution from all walks of life? Are they just students or working professional also join the coaching?

Many of our students are professionals and even their parents are into civil services like state services, judiciary and central civil services. We have students who are engineers, some of them from IIT, doctors, MBAs from IIMs and other institutions or CAs. Some students come from very modest background. Those who come from very small qasbahs and their parents are dependent on a meager agriculture income or self-employed. So it is a positive sign that there is a sense of awakening among these people towards education and aiming for civil services. Students from madrasa background also come to us. Even currently, we have five students from madrasa background. We have them every year.

What is your appeal to the youth of Muslim community with regard to the civil services?

I appeal to the youth in the community to sit more and more in competitive exams after their graduation because sometimes studying too much also does pay well. For instance, if you go for post-graduation then Ph.D., you still don’t have job security. Ph.D. can get you into teaching but the scope even there is limited. By joining civil services, one will have a chance to contribute to the growth of the community.

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