By Omar Peerzada,
Recently a budgetary provision has been made for opening off-campus ‘branches’ of Aligarh Muslim University. The idea of opening up opportunities of Higher Education for Muslims is a very laudable one and deserves all support. The lack of higher education among the Muslims has been a major cause of their backwardness. The question arises as to why Muslims are not able to take advantage of studying in the Colleges and Universities already available in the country.
The Muslim boys and girls are not only economically and socially weak but also unable to secure admission to these courses because their educational levels are not high and they require some special push and incentive. This is precisely the same reason why backward castes in Hindus (a small percentage of backward caste Muslims also) were given 27 percent reservation in colleges and universities under OBC quota. It was rightly assumed that with their background this under-privileged class cannot compete with others of the higher castes.
The need exists, therefore, that Muslims are given facilities for pursuing higher education by opening such institutions where they have preference in admission. The institutions like Jamia Hamdard (New Delhi) under Central Government dispensation and Integral University (Lucknow) under State Government authority are flourishing as Minority Institution with 50 percent reservations for the Minorities.
We have not talked of AMU here because it does not have reservations for Muslims. It is a Minority Character Institution established by Muslims of India as an Institution of their choice. Admission is not denied to any Indian citizen on the basis of his religion. The ‘minority character’ allows the AMU to have a Social and Cultural base which is Muslim in addition to a Faculty of Islamic Theology and an emphasis on teaching Islam to Muslim students. The University has an Islamic ethos but allows full freedom to everybody to teach and learn in a secular atmosphere with no restriction of any kind either on thought or action.
The proposal to open an “Off-Campus” centre of AMU has a number of difficulties – operational, conceptual, and legal.
Operational difficulties:
The new campus of AMU assumes that the administration of the campus would be looked after by the administration at Aligarh. If you examine it carefully and analyse the feasibility of this model it is found that it is totally unrealistic. The dministration at Aligarh is already wholly involved in managing the large university with its myriad problems of academics, students, and staff.
It would be almost impossible for the top administration to devote time to a campus so far away from Aligarh which is not even accessible by air. For instance, the VC of AMU would have to travel to Delhi from Aligarh by road, by air to Kolkata and then by road to Murshidabad (or wherever the centre is established). This marathon journey has to be duplicated for the Kerala campus. One can imagine the difficult logistics and the time consumed for the travel.
How can one assume that the VC and other senior staff would be able to travel to WB and Kerala often to manage this distant campus?
We are assuming that this campus is not being opened to offer education on ‘distant education’ model.
The end result would be that this institution would be neglected and suffer in terms of quality of education and would defeat the purpose.
Finally any Institution on the AMU model would not solve the problem of education of Muslims because the Act and Statute of AMU do not allow any reservation for Muslims. As mentioned earlier AMU provides an ethos, a culture, and a social base that is Muslim oriented.
Any Institution not providing fifty percent reservation for Muslims in ‘professional’ courses will fall short of the expectations of the community and does not achieve the laudatory endeavour of the government.
Conceptual difficulties:
It would be desirable to open a full fledged University with 50 percent reservation for Minorities and not a ‘minority character’ institution. It is important to impart education and therefore an Islamic twist of character is not essential.
There are historical reasons why Muslim character of AMU got crystallised though its Act and Statute do not envisage any reservation based on religion. During the second half of the nineteenth century the Muslims in India were against English education, Western culture and there was a general feeling that if Muslim boys learnt English and Science they would forget their religion and become Christians. To assuage these apprehensions the founder of the Institution had a pact with religious authorities that Islam as a religion would be compulsorily taught to Muslim boys. Students of other religious groups were exempted form the religious teaching and they learnt some other subject in lieu. There was no restriction on the Faculty.
These concepts have stood the test of times and the AMU model is a testimony of Muslims and Hindus togetherness. The fact remains that the Academic Council had to devise means to ensure that the percentage of Muslims in Professional courses remains adequate. Though the process is approved by the Executive Council and the Court of the University it is very ad hoc, and not very transparent. Despite the desire the percentage of Muslims in Professional courses like Engineering does fall below the fifty percent mark unless adjusted by some other device.
It is clear that if Muslim boys and girls are allowed to compete with others then the situation remains as it is today. AMU model is inadequate in the twenty-first century and a direct fifty percent reservation is desirable. The demand here is not to provide reservation for Muslims in existing institutions but to provide a separate university with fifty percent reservations for Muslims.
Though Rs 25 crore will be adequate for opening a new university though subject to some adjustments as follows.
It is an initial grant and not a one time grant to start the process and would have to be funded adequately subsequently.
It is expected that the land for establishing the university would be provided by the state, West Bengal and Kerala.
The UGC requirement for establishing a university is 15 acres of land.
It is proposed that the University would have finally six Faculties. Suggested faculties are (i) Engineering, (ii) Sciences, (iii) Social Sciences, (iv) Law, (v) Languages, (vi) Commerce and Management.
To start with Faculties of Engineering, Social Sciences, Commerce and Management may be opened. Class size is expected to be 60 students (maximum) in a class.
If we have Five Engineering disciplines like Civil, Mechanical, Electronics and Communication, Computer Science and Information Technology we would require 130,000 sq ft built up area.
Social Sciences, Commerce and Management would require about 30,000 sq ft area. Including Administration block thus the total space would be 170,000 sq ft area.
Assuming a cost of construction of Rs 1200 per sq ft (going rate in WB) the construction cost over two years would be Rs 20.0 crores or Rs 8 crores a year, for the two years and Rs 4 crores in the third year.
Equipment cost for Undergraduate classes including Computer Networking is estimated as Rs 10 crores spread over 4 years or an annual expenditure of Rs 2.5 crores a year.
Cost of hiring Faculty, Technical and Administrative staff would be Rs 1.0 crores for the first year, followed by Rs 2.0 crores each for two years approximately going to Rs 6.0 crores subsequently.
Initially advantage can be taken by seconding some faculty members to these campuses to solve the faculty crunch, but it does not reduce the financial burden.
The yearly expenditure is estimated as approximately Rs 11 crores for the first year and Rs 13 crores in the second year. The cost would be Rs 7 to 8 crores for the next two years.
The total cost may be distributed suitably. Size of the University may be scaled up or down if required.
It is assumed that the State government would acquire the land and the proposal does not include the cost of land.
Legal difficulties:
AMU is an autonomous institution established by Muslims of India as an institution of their choice under the law (1981). As such neither MHRD nor UGC are empowered to impose the proposed dispensation on AMU and that against wishes of the Muslims in India.
Section 5 (9A) and Section 12 (3) of the AMU Act provide for “Special Centres, laboratories and institutions for the furtherance of the object”
i.e. to supplement the facilities for the teaching and research undertaken.
Thus, the scope is limited and well defined and saves the university from affiliation so far. Stretching it now for the establishment of full-fledged departments/centres leave alone campuses shall be an exercise beyond prescribed powers and shall be in contravention of the preamble, the residential and minority status.
“Provided that the EC shall not propose the draft of any statute or any amendment of a statute affecting the status, powers or constitution of any authority of the University until such authority has been given an opportunity of expressing an opinion in writing upon the proposal and any opinion so expressed shall be considered by the court”.
The process should be initiated from the Faculty concerned, only to be passed on to AC, EC and the Court strictly in this order. This has not been done deliberately by the VC and Statutes are not amended at all. Therefore, all the claims and pronouncements made by the VC in the last one year and a half on behalf of the University are without the force of law.
The VC has floated the view that the proposed campuses shall be under the direct and active control of AMU on a day to day basis for all purposes.
As discussed this is totally impracticable.
Finally the proposal and the argument for a Minority University break down on the bed rock of constitutional inadmissibility of reservations based on religion in a government institution. Unfortunately we have in our country an ostrich type policy or a biased view – we have 49 percent reservation based on religion in the garb of SC, ST and OBC. Are not these people Hindus? Lately Muslims have been subdivided, much to their opposition, on caste lines and given a piece of goodies within the OBC. Yes the Constitution is sacrosanct but it allows reservation for SC and ST whom conveniently the courts assume that they are not Hindus. Otherwise how can they strike down any proposal of reservations for Muslims because that is based on religion? To get more Muslims in these universities either we have to use the subterfuge or stratagem of AMU or declare all Muslims as belonging to Backward Community.
Conclusion:
Considering the above analysis it is proposed that TWO Universities, one in West Bengal and another in Kerala, be established with Fifty percent reservation for the Minorities. No doubt culture and education go together and it is expected that these universities would have a vibrant cultural ethos that unites the communities across the national spectrum.
Since the proposal would require a constitutional amendment it is time it is taken up seriously.
Failing that these colleges be made ‘autonomous’ affiliated to AMU. This will also require a modification of the Act of AMU. Under this provision AMU would have no administrative and financial control except that it would have a loose oversee on the academic programmes in the sense that the content of these courses would have the approval of Academic Council of AMU. Thus it would be possible for AMU to award the final degrees and diplomas.
(The author is National Convener, Aligarh Movement Foundation, Jt. Sec. AMUOBA-Lucknow Chapter, Gen. Sec. Aaghaz Foundation www.aaghazfoundation.org. he can be contacted at [email protected])