NCMEI: Guarding educational rights of minorities in India

By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net,

Justice MSA Siddiqui believes in doing work and keeping a low profile. This is the reason that you have not heard much about the organization he heads and the work he does. Justice Siddiqui is the chairman of National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI).

Justice Siddiqui was in the United States, last month, to receive American Federation of Muslims from India (AFMI) Excellence Award for his “illustrious legal and judicial career and for his outstanding contributions in the field of education.” TwoCircles.net caught up with him during his stay in Boston to find out more about the work of the Commission that he heads.

NCMEI was set up by the UPA government in 2004. NCMEI provides for any minority educational institution to seek affiliation to any affiliating university of India. Any problem faced by the minorities in establishing their own education institutions, a fundamental right under Article 30(1) of the Constitution, can also be resolved by approaching NCMEI.

The Commission is a unique institution in that it has adjudicatory function, advisory function and recommendatory powers when it comes to education for minorities. Its orders are binding and it can take up issues on its own when it feels that rights of minorities are trampled upon in the field of education.
In the year 2006-07, the latest year for which the annual report is available, shows that the Commission had 80 sittings. From 2005 to 2008 it has issued 1687 Minority Status Certificates. Since the Commission is a quasi-judicial in nature, it acts as a civil court during these sittings and cases are deliberated on. Since July 30, 2009 the Commission has entertained 5735 cases and of which 4191 cases have been decided, Justice Siddiqui informed TwoCircles.net.

Cases that Commission has heard fall roughly into these categories – institutions not getting recognition as minority institutions, universities refusing to provide affiliation, state or local authorities not giving the necessary permissions (NOC) for starting new educational institutions and cases citing violation of rights given under Article 30. In cases, where NOC is given within 90 days of application, NCMEI has the authority to issue itself the NOC, saving time, money, and hassle for minorities institutions, a major complain among the minorities.

Even individuals, belonging to one of the minority communities, can approach the Commission if they feel that their fundamental right to educate while maintaining their faith is being violated. When asked about the case of Bhopal student Mohammad Salim who was barred from his school because of his beard or about Aysha Asmin, who was prevented from attending classes in a Mangalore college because she dressed in hijab, Justice Siddiqui said that both these cases can be taken up by his Commission as practicing of religious faith and acquiring of education should not be mutually exclusive.
Using its recommendatory power, the Commission has proposed establishment of Central Madrasa Board. Which is soon to be taken up for discussions in the Parliament.
During the year 2006-07, Commission members toured 28 places, covering all of India. Since he has seen minorities education from very close, I asked him about the conditions of minorities institutions and their problems. He was not at all satisfied with the quality of educational institutions that he has seen in North India. South Indian Muslims are running their educational institutions professionally and providing quality education service to the community but conditions in the north is very dismal.

Muslim institutions in the north are rife in infighting, litigations and opportunists elements trying to take over institutions so that they can sell the land and building at a premium. No one is leading the movement to increase the awareness about education among the Muslims.

Though, the Commission has done lot of work in the last five years, but still its chairman thinks that Muslims have failed in getting all the benefits that they could have extracted through it. He blames lack of awareness, laziness, and hopelessness among the Muslims as the main reasons for not getting the full benefit.

He praised AFMI‘s work for education of Muslims of India saying that, “Our salvation lies in acquiring strong knowledge of economics, powered by information technology, and innovation in education.”

Link:

http://ncmei.gov.in/