Tag Archives: Zakat Foundation of India

Civil Services Exams: Muslim candidates maintain success level

44 Muslims figure among the 829 successful candidates.

Civil Services Exams: Muslim candidates maintain success level

Bengaluru: 

The UPSC results were declared on Tuesday (August 4) and 829 candidates were selected for the top civil services across the nation. Of the 829 successful, 44 are stated to be Muslims. Reports have however put the figure of successful Muslim candidates between 42 and 45. Of the total, 180 will be joining the Indian Administrative Services (IAS); 24 will be going for Indian Foreign Services (IFS) and 150 will be taken into the Indian Police Service (IPS).

The Residential Coaching Academy (RCA) under the Jamia Millia Islamia has claimed that 30 of its candidates were successful. Fourteen of them are Muslims. Twenty five of them were residing at the Academy while another five received the coaching while residing outside the campus. The Zakat Foundation of India has claimed that 27 candidates were successful. Of these 23 are Muslims. Six candidates coached by the Jamia Hamdard are among the successful ones. Of these two are Muslims. Last year, there were 28 Muslims among the 759 successful candidates.

However, the results are disappointing from the angle of toppers. Only a single Muslim candidate, Safna Nazruddeen from Kerala has been awarded 45th rank. There is no other Muslim candidate among the top hundred. Jamia press released claimed that out of the 30 of its selected candidates, six are expected to get IAS, eight are likely to get IPS and remaining candidates will get IRS, Audit & Account services, IRTS and other allied services of Group-A. Six of the 30 candidates are girls. The RCA’s performance has dipped this year. Last year Junaid Ahmed emerged as the third rank-holder in the UPSC competitive exams.  The RCA has so far produced 230 civil servants for the topmost bureaucracy. Besides, 285 of its trained candidates have been selected for various other Central and State Government services such as Reserve Bank of India, scheduled banks, Jammu & Kashmir State services etc.

Safna Nazruddeen

The Muslim representation took a dip in 2018 when only 29 Muslims figured among 759 successful candidates. In 2017, there were 44 Muslims among 990 cleared for the services. It was in 2016 that the representation began showing upward trend with success of 50 Muslim candidates that year. Of the 50, ten figured among the top hundred. Since then the proportion of Muslims in the UPSC exams has hovered around 5%, a twofold increase from 2.5% for several decades. This is owing to concerted efforts by some institutions, notably Jamia Millia Islamia’s RCA, Zakat Foundation of India, Jamia Hamdard and the Central Haj Committee, Mumbai. However, majority of the successful Muslims this year are from southern States, although 60% of India’s Muslims live in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam (and their splinter states). This is where attention needs to be focused and efforts should be taken to improve standard of coaching in schools and colleges where the majority of Muslim students head.

Among the successful candidates is Dr. Asrar Ahmed Kichloo, a 27-year old doctor from Dodda district of Jammu. He is one among the 14 who cracked the Civil Services exam this year from the State. He completed his MBBS from GMC in Jammu. He is son of a Veterinarian mother and a father who is a retired official from the Animal Husbandry Department in the State.

Dr. Asrar Ahmed Kichloo

Kichloo told the media that he decided to go for Civil Services after he saw a man from a rural area in Jammu had applied cowdung on his wounds. He found to his horror that patients in rural areas in the State had to travel 24 hours to reach the doorsteps of a hospital and therefore resort to superstitious practices or approach quacks. Incidentally, a Muslim girl, Nadia Beig also figures among those who were successful from the State. Nadia hails from Ramhal village in Kupwara district of the State. At 23, she is the youngest to crack the UPSC. An Economics Honours graduate from Jamia Millia, Nadia had tried for the Civil Services for the second time. She took coaching at the RCA. 

Nadia Beig

List of successful Muslim candidates for UPSC Result-2019

S. No.NameRank
1Safna Nazarudeen45
2Shaikh Mohd Zaib Zakir153
3Jithin Rahman176
4Rumaiza Fathima R V185
5Nongjai Mohd Ali Akram Shah188
6Samir Ahmad193
7Suthan Abdullah209
8Sofia*241
9Asrar Ahmad Kichloo248
10Noorul Quamer252
11Ajmal Shahzad Aliyar Rawther254
12Farman Ahmad Khan258
13Mohd Shafiq292
14Sufiyan Ahmed303
15Azharuddin Zahiruddin Quazi315
16Asif Yousuf Tantray328
17Ahmad Belal Anwar332
18Nadia Beig350
19Ashik Ali P I367
20S Mohammed Yakub385
21Shahul Hameed A388
22Shaheen C396
23Md Shabbir Alam403
24Aftab Rasool412
25Shiyaz K M422
26Ahamed Ashik O S460
27Mohammad Nadeemuddin461
28Syed Zahed Ali476
29Mohammed Danish K487
30Md Qamaruddin Khan511
31Maaz Akhter529
32Hassan Usaid N A542
33Mohammad Aaquib579
34Rehan Khatri596
35C Sameer Raja*603
36Faisal Khan611
37Saifullah623
38Sabzar Ahmad Ganie628
39Majid Iqbal Khan638
40Firoj Alam645
41Ruheena Tufail Khan718
42Rayeas Hussain747
43Mohammed Nawas Sharaf Uddin778
44Shaik Shoeb823
45Syed Junaid Aadil

M.A. Siraj is a senior journalist based in Bengaluru 

source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> Featured News / by M.A. Siraj / August 05th, 2020

UPSC exam: Muslim aspirants to get free coaching at Haj Houses from nxt year

NEW DELHI :

Buoyed by 51 Muslim candidates clearing the civil services examination this year, the Haj Committee of India has decided to provide free coaching across states and union territories from next year.

UPSC civil services aspirants are being provided free coaching at the committee’s Mumbai-based headquarters for the last seven years. Two of the students who studied there were selected for the prestigious service this year.

The Haj Committee of India had recently sent a proposal to the Minority Affairs Ministry about providing coaching for the civil services in Haj Houses in all states and union territories. The ministry has accepted the proposal.

Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told Bhasha, “Two students who took coaching at the Haj Committee of India-run classes, cracked the UPSC exams. Next year onwards the government will start free coaching in Haj Bhavans in states and union territories.”

“We had requested the ministry (of minority affairs) to start free coaching service in Haj Bhavans in different states. We are happy that the minority affairs minister has approved the proposal. We want to start the (coaching) service from next year. We will implement this with the state Haj boards,” Chief Executive Officer of Haj Committee of India, Maqsood Ahmed Khan, said.

For the last seven years, 40 students are provided free coaching at the Haj Committee of India’s headquarters in Mumbai every year, he said.

Of the 980 candidates selected for civil services this year, 51 are Muslims.

Syed Zafar Mahmood, the chief of Zakat Foundation of India, which helps aspirants from economically weak Muslim families to prepare for the exam, said, “In 2017, around five lakh candidates appeared for the civil services preliminary examination and hardly 2 per cent of them were Muslims.”

“If the participation of Muslim students grows in the civil services examination then the number (of selected candidates) can go up from 51 to 100 as well,” he said.

source: http://www.outlookindia.com / Outlook / Home> Magazine / New Delhi – May 06th, 2018

Nagpur Muslims’ Innovative Community Empowerment Campaign

Nagpur, MAHARASHTRA :

SarfarazAhmedMPOs03sept2018

If there’s one overarching lesson from the past few decades about how to break the cycles of poverty and unemployment, it’s the power of mentoring — and of intervening early, ideally in the high school age, that is the time a child’s career is being formed. A new wave of Muslim social entrepreneurs have embarked on path-breaking initiatives in Nagpur and neighbouring Kamptee township with a potential to redefine the community’s social, developmental and educational agenda. A number of innovative initiatives have been launched and their synergy is expected to help the community address a number of critical issues. Nagpur’s model of synergizing multi sectoral approaches is emerging a game changer for the community and has the potential of becoming a replicable model.

Several Commissions were appointed by the government to study the socio economic conditions of Muslims in India.The Sachar Committee and the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission (2008) recommended a series of affirmative actions to be taken by the Government in order to restore justice to Muslims and improve their plight to the level of national averages.

In order to create awareness about various socio-economic and educational issues of the community specific to the region, and working out local applicable solutions, a think-tank, the Centre for Social Research and Empowerment (CSRE) was launched under the mentorship of Zafar Mahmood, Chairman of Zakat Foundation of India. CSRE is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit organization.

One of the key objectives of CSRE is to sensitise people to the new changing economic, educational and social environment and to empower them to successfully navigate it. CSRE identified that quality education and proper choice of careers could underpin all these areas and an increase in the community’s participation in various services would have a multiplier effect for generating a life- changing transformation for the community.

The CSRE has been promoted by senior professionals drawn from a vas diversity of professions. It functions unlike the usual career guidance centres being run by government or community organisations. It is managed by sectoral experts and is designed to assist individuals in making and implementing informed educational and occupational choices. Since these professionals are familiar with the governance processes they can enable the aspirants to take the right step on the right ladder.

Among the key mentors at CSRE are: Syed Wasif H. Naqvi (IFS), Ex. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt of Maharashtra Abdul Rauf Shaikh, Ex. CEO Maharashtra Waqf Board, Mohd Ishaq Shaikh, Ex Director General of MERY, Water Resources Department, Bashir Ahmed Shaikh, Retd Principal District Judge and Judicial Member, State Consumer Forum, Aftab Alam Khan, former Sr. Manager Bank Of Maharashtra, Majeed Parekh, Islamic scholar, Mujib Khan, Ex. Dy. Commissioner, Zafar Iqbal and Hamid B.K. Quraishi, both senior technocrats with the State Govt, Khwaja Rabbani Ex-Director of Archaeology, Mujeebuddin Siddiqui, Senior Mineral Economist, Abdul Waheed, former AGM, State Bank of India, Zafar Khan, former Principal, Qidwai High School and Jr.College, Faiz Waheed, technocrat and social entrepreneur, Rizwan Mirza, Chartered Accountant. Mushtaque Ahsan Quraishi, prominent social organizer and Qutub Zafar advocate and social activist. Irshad Khan, a young research associate handles the backroom pertains.

A R Shaikh and S W H Naqvi are the key architects of the centre and are steering a series of free Career Guidance Camps and Seminars s in local schools and colleges. Apart from guiding students on career choices experts from concerned fields also providing useful tips on various competitive examinations.

Shaikh feels that if the financial strength of Wakfs is properly tapped it can solve all major problems of the community. Most of the 27 state Waqf boards are headed either by not-too-highly qualified CEOs or by government officials holding the post as additional charge.

The Sachar Committee had said, “Up to 200 Group A officers are needed to service the Waqf affairs across India” and recommended, “The government may, therefore, consider creating a new cadre of officers to be recruited by the UPSC so that they can deal with the specific affairs of the Waqfs efficiently.”

The centre has become an established brand in Nagpur. It offers extension services in the field of student scholarships, career counseling, career selection, and entrance exams for professional and technical courses, recruitment in Govt. and Public Sector, job alerts, financial support and guidance for education, online services at nominal charges, etc. Afroz Jahan Memorial Trust, Amravati is a philanthropic partner, providing financial support to the Centre.

A Public Library cum Study Centre has been set up at Jafar Nagar Line with the support of local citizens and the Jafar Nagar Mosque. The centre is expected to be a one point reference and guidance interface for career and competitive examinations. It will soon be upgraded to a digital library with virtual class room facility.

CSRE recently climaxed its third career expo with focus on competitive examinations. Sarfaraz Ahmad IAS Distt Collector of Karimnagar, Telangana and recipient of the 2017 Prime Minister’s Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal Yojana (DDU-GKY) award for achieving the best performance in employment for unemployed youth, emphasized that aspirants for civil services should shed they myths about civil services.

Ahmed said that the civil series examination is basically aimed at selecting administrators and not subject expert’s. Hence it is focused on assessing the students’ contextual approach to the subject and his analyltical abilities. He also said that most of the successful candidates make the grade not in their first attempt but in later attempts. It was therefore necessary that a candidate should work hard and determinedly with a mission approach to the examination.

A R Shaikh dwelt on various Careers available for students after 12th standard. Mujibuddin Siddiqui explained the importance of timely of goal setting. Afsha Nahid Khan of Andhra Bank outlined the various opportunities in a banking career. Sumit Ramteke who recently cracked the UPSC for Astt Commandants exams focused on the pattern of UPSC examinations and various techniques for qualifying them.

source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> Education & Career / by Moin Qazi, ummid.com / August 30th, 2018

Winning laurels: For the first time ever, 50 Muslim candidates clear UPSC civil services exam

Lucknow,  UTTAR PRADESH :

50 muslim candidates made the cut in the UPSC civil services exam 2016 and 10 figured in the top 100 rank

Lucknow:

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) results on Wednesday brought cheers to 1,099 successful candidates. Among those who made the cut were 50 Muslims – the highest number ever to have cleared the exam.

Ten Muslims figured in the top 100 rank and six Muslim women also came out with flying colours in the exams. Jammu and Kashmir led from the front with Bilal Mohiud Din Bhat bagging the 10th rank and 13 others cracking the exam.

“It’s heartening. The credit goes to several non-profit and social organisations which have been relentlessly working for literacy, creating awareness and highlighting the importance of education in the community,” says Salam Siddiqui, former principal of Mumtaz Inter College. Sure enough, among the 50 successful Muslims, 16 candidates were mentored by the Zakat Foundation of India (ZFI) – a charity organisation providing free coaching for civil services exams.

The wake-up call for the community came in the form of the Sachar Committee Report, which was released in November 2006, say educationists. Painting a dismal picture of Muslims in India, concern was expressed in the report over the poor representation of Muslims in government sector jobs.

In 2016, 36 Muslims had cleared the exams, while the number stood at 38 in 2015, 34 in 2014 and 30 in 2013. Although Muslims comprise 13.4% of the total population, they have very little representation in the top government services, often due to lack of education and unavailability of resources. Consequently, the percentage of Muslims clearing the examinations remained roughly around 3% in the last few years.

In 2013, a total of 1,122 candidates had made it to the prestigious civil services, of which 34 or 3.03% were Muslims. In the 2012 UPSC result, only 31 Muslims could make it to the final list out of 998 successful candidates, which translates to 3.10%. 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, according to data culled by organisations working in the field of literacy and employment.

“But when you compare these figures with the fact that Muslims comprise about 14% of the population, 3% is not a very encouraging figure,” says Agha Pervez Masih, administrator of Lucknow Guidance Centre, a free coaching centre at Halwasiya Market in Hazratganj run by the Aaaghaz Foundation.

The community, he feels, still has a long way to go and a respectable proportionate representation according to population share would be reached when 170-180 Muslims make the mark in the civil services exams.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Education / by M. Tariq Khan / June 02nd, 2017

Assam’s first Muslim woman IAS Fardina felicitated

 

Umme Fardina Adil
Umme Fardina Adil

Guwahati :

On this past 3rd May, a history was created very silently in Assam by a young Muslim girl. Umme Fardina Adil did what female members of her Muslim community in the Northeast state could not do in the last 66 years of Independence. By cracking India’s most coveted Civil Services examination, Fardina became first Muslim woman to become IAS in Assam. Her historic achievement could not be hidden long.

Umme Fardina Adil, a resident of Hatigaon in Guwahati, was felicitated by ERD Foundation and other organisations for her success in the Civil Services exam 2012 whose results were announced on 3rd May.  In the list of 998 successful candidates this year, Fardina got 319 rank.

Speaking at the function organised at Regional College of Higher Education (RCHE) in the city on Sunday, Mahbubul Hoque, Chairman ERD Foundation said, “Assam gave the only President of India from the North East – Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. Assam also gave the first and only Muslim woman Chief Minister of the country – Anwara Timur. But it took Assam 66 years to produce the first Muslim woman IAS officer – Umme Fardina Adil.”

Hoque also informed the audience that the entrance test and interview of minority candidates opting for coaching for the IAS exam of 2014 was conducted at the same venue in the morning. It was organised by Zakat Foundation of India (ZFI) and coordinated by ERDF. The felicitation for Fardina was arranged in the afternoon to facilitate her interaction with all the aspiring minority community IAS candidates of 2014 from Assam who were also present at the venue.

L-R: Mahbubul Hoque, Chairman ERDF; HN Das, former Chief Secretary of Assam; Umme Fardina Adil; and Prof PK Abdul Azis, VC, University of Science & Technology Meghalaya at a function in Guwahati on 12th May 2013.
L-R: Mahbubul Hoque, Chairman ERDF; HN Das, former Chief Secretary of Assam; Umme Fardina Adil; and Prof PK Abdul Azis, VC, University of Science & Technology Meghalaya at a function in Guwahati on 12th May 2013.

Dr Ikramul Haque, Atiqur rahman Siddiqui and Mohammed Aleem from the Zakat Foundation of India, New Delhi were also present on the occasion.

Speaking during the felicitation programme, HN Das, former Chief Secretary of Assam & Director, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Coaching Centre for Civil Services Examinations Guwahati said, “Financial hardship should not be a reason for not being able to sit for IAS examination. Now there are many organisations to support meritorious students to prepare for competitive examinations.”

Prof PK Abdul Azis, Vice Chancellor, University of Science & Technology Meghalaya, who was also a member of the IAS interview board for several years congratulated Fardina and offered her flowers and gifts on behalf of the University. Sabur Tapader and Ahmad Hussain offered gifts to Fardina on behalf of Unity Education Foundation and Pragjyotish Group of Institutions respectively.

Fardina, a former student of Disneyland School and Cotton College of Guwahati, informed the audience that she cleared the IAS in her first attempt and with about 8 months of preparation putting in about six hours every day. She said, she depended on newspapers and Wikipedia for gathering knowledge about new topics and never referred to any guide books.

Fardina encouraged the aspiring candidates for developing a politically neutral view and showing an aptitude for analytical dissection of the subject in question. She also asked the young generation to be socially committed, stressing that this attitude would see them through in any interview.

source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Education / by Muslim Mirror News / May 13th, 2013