By Twocircles.net Staff Reporter
The UPSC mains result has brought a cheer on the faces of more than 20 Fellows at Zakat India Foundation and Jamia Hamdard Residential Coaching Academy.
While 14 students from Zakat India Foundation cleared the mains, the Academy at Hamdard said as of now they were sure that at least seven students have qualified. The Academy said they would be able to confirm the final number by Monday. Ali, Director of the Academy informed Twocircles.net that of the seven students, four were Muslims while three were from other minorities.
Since the mains result contains only the roll numbers and not names, it is difficult to ascertain how many Muslims and other minorities have qualified this year.
It was informed to Twocircles.net five Muslim students from Mewat had also cleared the Mains.
Candidates whose roll numbers are present in the list have qualified for the Personality Test, which will start from March 20, 2017. The date and time of the test will be displayed on the commission’s official website.
The final tally of Muslims who clear the UPSC has hovered in the range of 30-40 for the past few years out of around 1,000 recruitments. Last year, 39 Muslims cleared the exams, with Athar Aamir Ul Shafi Khan of Kashmir bagging the second rank. In 2015, 38 Muslims had cleared the exams, while the number stood at 30 in 2013 and 34 in 2014.
Although Muslims comprise 13.4% of total population, they are dismally represented in the top government services, often due to lack of education and unavailability of resources. They are roughly 2% in the civil services.