Mumbai News: Muslim Leaders Urge Centre To Restart IAS Coaching Centre At Haj House; Congress MLA Amin Patel Writes To Union Minister Kiren Rijiju
Mumbai: Muslim leaders have reminded the Union Minorities Ministry about their demand to restart the IAS and Allied Services, Coaching and Guidance Centre at the Haj Committee of India, Mumbai.
Member of the Legislative Assembly and deputy leader, Congress Legislative Party, Amin Patel, wrote to Union Minorities Minister, Kiren Rijiju, earlier this week, referring to his letter in the issue in October, 2024.
The IAS and Allied Services, Coaching & Guidance Centre at the HCOI was started in 2009 with the objective to provide a low-cost coaching, training, and mentoring for civil services exam to the minority students. The centre started with 50 students selected through an all-India entrance test and given coaching for one year.
The first major success was in 2010 when a student, Salman Taj Patil, was selected for the Indian Police Service, one of the allied services. The centre has helped around 25 students to enter UPSC and more than 150 students in other allied services. Adiba Anam Asfaque Ahmed from Yavatmal in Vidarbha, who ranked 142 in the recently-declared UPSC exams, had been trained at the Haj House centre in Mumbai and in Delhi.
The centre was revamped in 2017 and student intake increased to 200. Expert mentors were appointed to guide the students. Recently selected candidates who joined government services mentored aspirants. Promising students who could not clear the UPSC exam in the first attempt retained to allow them another chance.
The centre reduced its intake to 100 in 2021-2022 and the enrollment of senior students who could not clear the exams were discontinued which impacted student-led initiatives, said Patel. The mentors were replaced by a commercial coaching institute. Since December, 2023, the HCOI has issued no notification to admit new students.
Patel said that the center is managed through Haj Fund corpus and was a burden on the government. "The centre has developed a sense of confidence among the minority youths and motivated them to become active citizens.
"The closure shattered the dreams of aspiring civil servants from the minority community. Due to the safe and conducive environment, parents coming from minority communities used to allow their daughters to study and stay at Haj house. Unfortunately, the girls lost this crucial privilege," Patel said.
Patel said, "that apart from the Haj season of around two months, the Haj House building is mostly vacant for the rest of the year. All the required infrastructure to run the institute is already in place. The only thing needed is to release the notification for the new batch. The restarting of the institute will help minority students to fulfil their dream of becoming a civil servant and take part in nation building," said Patel.
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