Civil Services Initiatives in India by and for the Muslim Community
By Mohammed Ali Shariff
Government led
Initiatives for Civil Services Examination (CSE)
- Jamia Millia Islamia Residential Coaching Academy (RCA), New Delhi
RCA provides Coaching for Civil Services Examinations (Prelims and Mains) including programmes on language skills and personality development. It operates a Centre for Coaching and Career Planning which runs free coaching programmes for aspirants belonging to SC, ST, Women and Minority communities. The funding for the Centre is available from UGC and Ministry of Minority Affairs. Students are selected for coaching on the basis of an entrance test, and are offered classroom teaching, which is supplemented and strengthened by periodic tests and evaluation. Candidates are selected by 1st week of November each year. There is a provision for wait listed candidates also. All coaching classes are offered free of charge except an admission test fee which is payable at the time of applying for a coaching programme. However, the boarding and lodging charges are charged, and are subsidized at Rs 2500 per month. New batches start from November every year, and the entrance exam for coaching held in September. Residence is provided for about one year until Mains exam of UPSC. - Aligarh Muslim University Residential Coaching Academy (RCA), Aligarh
RCA provides Coaching for Civil Services Examinations (Prelims and Mains) including course modules on development of core competence, communication skills and personality development. Admissions to coaching courses and Library Membership are given through a National Level Entrance Test. The Academy selects 100 students for the regular Civil Services, 60 for Judicial Services and 50 for ‘Super-50′ Program’ of Civil Services. Admission test is held in August in 5 centres “ Aligarh, Lucknow, Srinagar, PatnaandMallapuram. Coaching starts in November each year. Coaching programme is free. Hostel facility is provided for limited number of candidates with applicable charges. Food and Lodging expenses are reimbursed by Central Waqf Council for limited number of students. - MANUU” CSE Residential Coaching Centre,Hyderabad
Entrance test in Hyderabad, Kurnool, Bangalore, Mumbai, Patna, Delhi and Jammu usually in December. There is no tuition fee or coaching fee. Rs 5000 has to be paid at time of admission of which Rs 3000 is refundable. 20% of the enrolled aspirants will be given stipend of Rs. 2,000/- per month on the basis of merit cum means, regularity and discipline, as decided by the Board/Committee. Boys’ and girls’ hostel are separate and are situated in MANUU Campus. Mess charges based on the actual spent on food as fixed by mess management has to be borne by aspirant and paid directly to the concerned mess Committee. A nominal fee is collected for lodging as decided by the University. - Haj Committee of India (HCoI),Mumbai
HCoI established a Coaching and Guidance Cell (CandGC) at Haj House in Mumbai, in Aug2009. The screening process of selecting students is conducted in July at 7 centers across India. Interviews are held in Mumbai. Application forms are to be submitted by April. In the screening test, students are checked on their Islamic and General Knowledge. The selected students are being trained in Haj Committee, Mumbai with hostel, food, internet and books facilities. Mumbai university professors are coaching and guiding them for UPSC exam subjects. Separate hostels are available for male and female candidates.
The entire coaching and guidance is free of cost including Prelims, Mains and Interview. However, each student has to pay a caution money of Rs. 10,000/- (refundable). 50 students are selected. Free accommodation is provided on sharing basis. However, Mess Charges are payable towards catering, on pro rata basis (approx. @ Rs. 2000 pm for food and hostel maintenance) with some consideration for students below the poverty line. - Civil Services Fee Reimbursement Scheme, Kerala
Kerala Government provides a scheme from minority candidates who prepare for Civil Service Examination for financial aid. If they are studying in Government approved Civil Service Coaching centers, they can apply for the financial aid to cover the Tuition Fee (up to Rs 20,000) and Hostel Fee (Rs10,000). Applicant should be pursuing the training programme for Civil Services in Kerala Civil Services Academy/Institute of Career Research, Ponnani/Training centres run by universities. - Government of Karnataka Scheme for pre-coaching for Civil Services Examination
The Directorate of Minorities, Govt of Karnataka (DoMGoK) sponsors students from Minority Communities for Pre-Coaching to UPSC and KPSC Civil Service and Union Public Civil Commission and Karnataka Public Service Civil Examination. Selected candidates will be sponsored to institution out of the listed pre-coaching centres at New Delhi/ Hyderabad/ Chennai/ Bangalore etc. for UPSC and for KPSC at different places in Karnataka. The Pre- coaching fee for all the subjects will be paid by DoMGoK. A stipend of Rs.13,000/- per candidate who study at Delhi and Hyderabad, Rs. 6,000/- per month for outside candidates who study in Bangalore and Rs.3,000/- per month for Local candidate, will be paid during Coaching period to the selected candidates. Annual income of the applicant’s Parents / Guardians including candidate Annual Income should be less than 4.5 lakhs per annum for category-01 and for others Rs. 3.5 Lakhs perannum.
Community led Initiatives for Civil Services Examination (CSE) - Zakat Foundation of India (ZFI), NewDelhi
ZFI, a charitable trust based in New Delhi, was established in 1997 by its Founder President, Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood, a former Civil-Servant and ‘Officer on Special Duty’ for the Indian Prime Minister. He was one of the key members of the Prime Minister’s Justice Sachar Committee. As one of its flagship projects, ZFI runs the Sir Syed Coaching and Guidance Centre in New Delhi since 2007. ZFI selects and sponsors coaching of select number of ‘ZFI Fellows,’ i.e. academically meritorious and financially deserving candidates with an interest in appearing for CSE. ‘ZFI Fellows’ are selected after an extensive online application (January-April) followed by written test and interview process (April-June) each year. ZFI currently provides hostels in Delhi for around 60 students at a subsidized rate of Rs 2,000 per month and sponsors up to 90% of the Coaching Fees which is paid directly to the coaching institutes. In 2018, ZFI’s selection process was held in 6 cities namely Kolkata, Lucknow, Srinagar, Mallapuram, Delhi and Bhopal. For 2019, Aurangabad (Maharashtra) and Vadodara (Gujarat) have been added. - Hamdard Study Circle (HSC), NewDelhi
HSC is managed by the Hamdard Education Society, and was established in 1991 to empower the 5 minority communities. It is a purely residential complex located on a 14-Acre Campus at Talimabad, SangamVihar in South Delhi, having accommodation for 127 male and 44 female candidates. It has a large air conditioned fully equipped library, an air conditioned lecture room, reading and discussion rooms, and a spacious dining hall and kitchen. Selection of candidates for the coaching programme is made through a rigorous process of a written Entrance Test held at 22 centers in different parts of the country followed by Group discussion and Interview at HSC. This entrance examination is held in July each year. The coaching is free. Rs. 6000 per month is charged for maintenance of residential facility (all single rooms) and for food. It has enabled 470 candidates to join the Indian Civil Services till date. - IKLAS IAS Academy,Chennai
Iklas IAS Academy commenced its work in 2012 at Makkah Masjid in Chennai. The Academy has one Library-cum-Study Room, two class rooms for subject lectures and group discussions, Administrative Office, Dining Hall and partially furnished 10 rooms for aspirants. Online coaching is also provided.
Selection for the coaching programme is through an entrance exam (usually held in April) in 27 cities across TN, followed by personal interview. Free food, accommodation and training is provided. 40 students have been selected in 2018-19 (30 boys, 10 girls) and are undergoing training. - PM Institute of Civil Services Examination at Farook College, Kozhikode
In month of May, Farook College PM Institute of Civil Services Examination in association with PM Foundation conducts All Kerala Civil Service Scholarship Examination at four centres in Kerala to select ten potential Civil Services aspirants. Selection includes personality test/interview. The criteria for attending scholarship examination is any Degree from a recognized university. The selected aspirants will get one year free coaching at Farook College P.M. Institute of Civil Services Examinations with free accommodation at Farook College Campus. Students selected will not bear any expenses including tuition fee and hostel expenses. Separate hostel facility for males and females is provided on the college campus. - MS IAS Academy, Hyderabad
Admission for limited seats is made through a written test containing both objective and subjective questions followed by an interview. State of the art facility provided with AC rooms, online classes, video lectures, well stocked library with Wi-Fi facility, Regular weekly tests. MS IAS Academy provides completely free boarding and lodging facility. - Foundation for Economic and Educational Development, Hyderabad
In 2009-10, FEED started a new Civil Services pilot project. FEED tied up with ZFI and conducted an entrance exam to identify potential students. 5 selected top students were sent to Delhi under ZFI. 12 students were selected by FEED for coaching in Hyderabad itself. A 12 month intensive coaching was funded for the 12 students at R C Reddy IAS study centre in Hyderabad. The students (6M+6F) were housed in hostels close to the coaching institute and were also given additional coaching, guest lectures, current affairs study programme and Islamic orientation.
FEED followed a similar model for 2010-11 and 2011-12, even expanding the scope of the talent search exam. The exams were conducted across over 50 centers, including adjoining districts of neighboring states. In 2010-11, a total of 50 students were shortlisted – 20 for UPSC coaching, and 30 for state public services coaching. During its brief tenure, FEED helped 4 students qualify for Intelligence Bureau (ACIO), 1 student each qualify for AP Forest Service Exam, and Telangana Group 1 State Service Exam. Several other students qualified various Bank exams, Insurance company exams, and lower level government recruitment exams and are working at various government institutions.
After a run of 3 years, FEED ceased the civil services program as it shifted focus to a larger project – The setting up of the Hyderabad Institute of Excellence (HIE). At HIE, student intake is at class 7 to class 10 level, and a residential setting is provided for talented students. The aim is to prepare these students for competitive excellence. Currently, the programs at HIE focus on IIT JEE, NEET and NDA exams, and is expected to expand to include civil services when HIE commences its degree programmes. - Zahir Foundation
Zahir Foundation is a trust operated by Mr. Kabeer of Alpine Builders, Bangalore. Muslim Industrialists Association (MIA) “ Education Wing, Bangalore worked as an associate of Zahir Foundation to help run the selection process for the UPSC coaching programme. The programme is a fully dedicated 3 year integrated course for graduation in association with a local college along with preparation for UPSC. Free coaching is provided by subject experts. Selected candidates also get free food and accommodation for a period of 3years. - BIFT and Millat Hostel
Government of Karnataka Pre coaching scheme funding is for one year only. However not many students clear UPSC in first attempt. Those who are financially strong, continue their stay and preparation in Delhi, but those who cannot, usually disperse after the funding ends. Some of the students who have come back to Bangalore, and a few others in Bangalore who are planning to pursue UPSC have formed an informal, self-funded structure. Most of them stay in Millat Hostel, situated in Frazer Town. They are paying Rs. 4000 for accommodation (twin) andfood. BIFT library is situated close to the hostel and next to Shifa Hospital. This library has 28 seats, and has all the necessary material for preparation for UPSC. The students utilize this library for preparation. However, this library is restricted (for males only) and also is shared by other students such as CA aspirants, MD (medical) exam students etc.
(The full report can be had from the author, who can be contacted [email protected])
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