An unorganised but dynamic machinery has been at work making it possible for 50 Muslim candidates to clear the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) this year, the highest since Independence.
Out of the 1,099 successful candidates, a total of 50 Muslim candidates made it to the final list of 2016, out of which ten Muslims figured in the top 100. Six Muslim women cleared the examination, while 14 others made it from violence-ridden Jammu and Kashmir, with Handwara’s Bilal Mohiud Din Bhat bagging the 10th rank.
Behind this success, a system of “free-or-subsidised-coaching-for-Muslim-students-framework” has been working tirelessly. This unorganised but dynamic machinery, run by former high-ranking Muslim bureaucrats and clerics who want the Muslim youth to live a balanced, spiritual and worldly life, is working to ensure that the country’s most educationally-deprived minority is able to find a footing in various government services.
Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood, a former civil servant who was appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and served as the first secretary (Haj) in the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia, established the “Sir Syed Coaching and Guidance Centre”, under the parent organisation Zakat Foundation of India (ZFI), in New Delhi in 2007. The coaching centre has made it possible for several Muslim students fulfil their dream of qualifying UPSC.
Dr Mahmood told The Sunday Guardian: “Yes, we can say that the emergence of such coaching institutes for Muslim students has played an important role in increasing Muslim participation in government services. The biggest contribution is awareness. Inspiring the Muslim youth to dream about UPSC and all other types of government services is how this started. When there were talented students willing to strive to make it to the elite government services, we provided them with the resources to fulfil that dream. This is where these coaching services are proving to be springboards.”
Dr Mahmood’s coaching institute follows a two-phase strategy, where students appear for an entrance exam and a personal interview to get selected. Every year, 50 students are shortlisted, who are then provided with financial assistance to pay for UPSC coaching classes in Delhi’s top coaching institutes, along with a place to stay and other living expenses. In the second phase, students undergo a mock interview with former UPSC interviewers and existing and retired top government bureaucrats in the panel. The output is that in this year’s UPSC result, 16 candidates from ZFI were selected, including five students from Jammu and Kashmir.
Another unique model for Muslim students, who want to pursue their dream of cracking the UPSC exams, but at the same time also want to pursue their Islamic education, has been started by IKLAS IAS Academy, which is part of the Makkah Masjid Trust in Chennai.
Maulana Shamsuddin Qasmi of the IKLAS IAS Academy told The Sunday Guardian, “We have started a five-year integrated programme that combines IAS coaching with Alim course. There are other modules as well, where students can stay here at the campus and undergo a 10-month long coaching. The academy is only two years old, but several of our students have managed to clear different levels of UPSC exams.”
Other than these popular academies are Aaaghaz Foundation,Lucknow, Hamdard Study Circle, New Delhi, Larkspur House of Learning, Bangalore, M.P. Waqf Board, Bhopal, Noor Jahan Foundation, Hyderabad etc.
Many of these and other academies do not only cater to students who want to crack the UPSC exams, but other government services exams as well. However, most provide financial assistance in the form of subsidised rates for boarding and living expenses, discounts on study materials and full or partial payment of fees for studying at a top coaching institute.
While New Delhi is the hub of such coaching institutes, it is to be noted that some of the oldest coaching institutes for Muslim students have significantly failed to provide any output in the past few years. The Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia University, too, have facilities for students pursuing government services exams that need financial or other assistance, but have lagged behind in producing successful Muslim candidates.
According to data culled by organisations working in the field of literacy and employment, 31 Muslim candidates cleared UPSC in 2012, 34 in 2013, 34 in 2014, 38 in 2015 and 36 in 2016. In the civil services, Muslims comprise about 3% in Indian Administrative Service, 1.8% in Indian Foreign Service and around 4% in the Indian Police Service.