The young nurses believe that more Muslim girls across the country should opt for the nursing profession to serve society.
Patna (Bihar) :
Two Muslim nurses Naziya Parveen and Shabrun Khatun from Bihar were awarded this year’sNational Florence Nightingale Awards (NFNA) by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan earlier this month.
The National Florence Nightingale Awards (NFNA) were instituted in 1973 by the Government of India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as a mark of recognition for the meritorious services rendered by nurses and nursing professionals to the society.
Sajeeda Banu of Karnataka, Ahmedullah Wani of Jammu & Kashmir, and Mohammed Kasim AB of Lakshadweep are the other Muslims who were awarded this year.
She was among 51 people from around the country who were awarded in different categories by the President. Her citation states that she has contributed to the establishment of the labor room and for helping in preparing the standard operating procedure.
32-year-old Naziya Parveen receiving the award from the President Murmu. | Picture by arrangement
Hailing from Sultanganj, Bhagalpur, Naziya is the eldest of three sisters. She is married to a microbiologist Mohammad Shams of Gaya. After completing her high secondary education in Dumka, Jharkhand she studied nursing for GNM at JawaharLal Medical College, Bhagalpur, and worked with Jamia Hamdard in New Delhi for six years. It was challenging to move from Delhi to Araria but her family supported her as “there isn’t much scope of work in Sadar Hospital.”
“I feel quite proud to be awarded as our society does not recognize the work of nurses. I am elated for being a Muslim awardee as we don’t get nominated for such awards. I was asked if I was from Kashmir as I was wearing a hijab,” she said.
Mother of two kids, Naziya has inspired other Muslim girls to take admission to nursing courses. Local newspapers in the state ran stories featuring her.
“We need to change our attitude towards this profession. It is a good job and one can draw good income from it. The nursing course is such that even if one does not opt for a job, they can get the chance to serve from home and earn. I am of the view that more Muslim girls should study nursing as a profession,” she said.
28-year-old Shabrun Khatun was awarded in the ANM (Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife) category. | Picture by arrangement
28-year-old Shabrun Khatun was awarded in the ANM (Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife) category. She works at Darbhanga Sadar primary health center. She had applied for the award previously but it was her work during Covid-19 that won her an award this year. She recalled how she went for a door-to-door screening of Covid-19 in April 2020 while being on fast and continued to work in 2021.
Shabrun told TwoCircles.net that receiving the award from President Murmu was quite encouraging.
Her journey to success has not been smooth. She had to work in local hospitals to support her family but this experience helped her. “I was good at studies in school and got prizes for my co-curricular activities. I wanted to be a medical doctor. I was selected for MBBS at a private medical college but did not have enough money to take admission. I also wished to be an officer in administration but my father’s proximity to doctors got me into nursing.”
Shabrun’s father Mohammad Akhtar is a tailor who would stitch clothes for operation theaters of hospitals nearby. She had cleared the preliminary test for selection in the police department but finally settled for a nursing course after her graduation in Zoology from her hometown of Rosera Bazar in Samastipur district in Bihar.
Shabrun said that she had to face unfriendly treatment in society after she chose to become a nurse. “But seeing my success now, everyone is happy,” she said.
She is of the view that Muslim girls who are not able to qualify for MBBS should consider nursing as a career as “it gives the satisfaction of serving humanity in one small way.”
In December this year, she would be felicitated on the foundation day of the Darbhanga district.
Sami Ahmad is a journalist based in Patna, Bihar. He tweets @samipkb
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net / November 25th, 2022
The new information technology minister of Bihar Mohammad Israil Mansuri belongs to a socially backward Dhuniya community.
Mohammad Israil Mansuri. | Photo: Facebook/Israilmansuriofficial
Patna (Bihar) :
Mohammad Israil Mansuri, a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA is the new minister of Information Technology in the government of Bihar.
Mansuri, 46, belongs to the Dhuniya community and uses Mansuri as a surname. In Bihar, the Mansuris are primarily involved in quilt making. He is considered to be the first in his community to become a minister in the government.
Mansuri started his political career in 2001 as a Mukhiya (village head). Though he calls himself a “servant of all communities,” in political terms he is a Pasmanda (socially backward).
Mansuri completed his early education in his village Mathurapur, Patahi in the Muzaffarpur district. He studied up to I.Sc. and later joined politics.
His father Mohammad Usman does not have prior experience in politics and his wife Zubaida Khatoon is a homemaker. His only daughter Neha Tarannu is studying Unani medicine. Mansuri used to work with his father in litchi gardens and at his grocery shops. He is the third among six siblings of four brothers and two sisters. One of his brothers runs a fruit shop while the other is a teacher. He wanted to be a teacher but could not clear the main examination in 1994 while he had also passed the preliminary test for T.C. in Railways after passing his 12th board examination the same year.
He first joined Nitish Kumar’s party Janata Dal in 1996 and was part of the party till Kumar joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2017. He resigned from JD (U) and joined RJD.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, Mansuri thanked the Almighty and his party leaders Lalu Prasad and his son the deputy chief minister of Bihar Tejaswhi Yadav for choosing him to be a minister. “For me being a Mukhiya too was a big dream. Then in 2020, I got a ticket from RJD and got elected as an MLA in my first attempt from the Kanti seat. I was extremely surprised when I got a call to take the oath as a minister. It seems that my struggle in politics has impressed my leaders Lalu and Tejashwi,” he told TwoCircles.net.
“To struggle and strive for something comes naturally to me. I studied in a school where we had to take our Bora (Jute bag used as a mat) and did not have a pen and notebook but slates to write on. I used to cycle 10 to 15 kilometres to bring the grocery items for our shop while I was in school. As I had an interest in social work, I got a chance to meet people. Though I come from the Mansuri community, my popularity in all communities is equal,” he said.
Mansuri was caught in controversy soon after he became a minister. He travelled with the chief minister Nitish Kumar to the Hindu holy city of Gaya as he was the in-charge minister of that district. When he entered the Vishnupad temple accompanied by Kumar, a huge controversy erupted as “non-Hindus were not allowed to the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. “I used to visit all places of worship without caring for the religion. I was not made aware of the restriction at that temple. I entered without any intention to breach the rule.”
When asked what his focus would be as a minister of the IT department, he said, “IT is a fast-changing sector. We would try to keep our state updated in this field. We would also see how many jobs we can provide to the youths from our department as this government aims to give ten lakh jobs.” He checks his emails and runs his Facebook page by himself and has his own website.
All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz President and former Rajya Sabha member Ali Anwar told TwoCircles.net that as Mansuri belongs to Pasmanda Biradari his election as MLA and now elevation to a minister is a great morale booster for the downtrodden section of the Muslim community. “Lalu and Tejaswhi took the right decision to induct Mansuri as a minister and many more such steps are needed for the society,” he said.
Former Director of Jagjivan Ram Institute of Parliamentary Studies and Political Research – Srikant sees it as a necessary step to bring upward mobility to the people who belong to the lower strata of society. “Since Mansuri belongs to the most backward section of the society his empowerment in politics is in accordance with the theory of Ram Manohar Lohia and Mahatma Gandhi,” Srikant said.
Srikant added that it was a time taking process to empower the Pasmanda section but a positive step has been taken.
www.israilmansuri.in
Sami Ahmad is a journalist based in Patna, Bihar. He tweets at @samipkb
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Careers / by Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net / August 30th, 2022
Rural women of Bihar engaged in doing Kheta embroidery work. | Picture by author arrangement
Kheta is said to be a 500-year-old quilting heirloom practised exclusively by Shershahabdi women. Today, Kheta embroidery work is getting popular among non-Shershahabdi people with many women formerly associated with making Beedis taking to Kheta work to earn a decent livelihood.
Bihar :
Razia Khatoon of Kishanganj district of Bihar is getting 45 days of training in Kheta embroidery work. The training will be completed on May 14 and is done under Project Samarth, a scheme for capacity building in the textile sector carried out by the government of India. Earlier, she would make Beedi (plant leaf cigarettes) as a livelihood. She said Kheta has given her a chance to get rid of the health hazards that making Beedi brings on.
For several workers like Razia, the Kheta embroidery work, after acquiring proper training, is expected to be an alternate livelihood instead of the hazardous Beedi rolling job.
Believed to be a 500-year-old quilting heirloom practised exclusively by Shershahabdi women, today the Kheta embroidery work is getting popular among non-Shershahabdi people. Earlier, the intricate embroidery work was done on the layers of pre-used print Sarees and chequered Lungis etc, however, today the use of new clothes for making Khetas is widely done.
“Shershahabdi is a term used for Muslims of the Seemanchal area of Bihar who were settled in the region by emperor Shershah Suri. They are said to be ethnic Pashtuns mixed with local Surjapuris,” Ashraful Haque, a Shershahabdi, who co-ordinates with the Kheta weavers, told TwoCircles.net.
“Kheta is so intricate and organised that officials from Delhi first refused to believe it as a handcraft. When a live demo was done, they were immensely impressed. After the efforts of the local member of parliament Dr Mohammad Jawed, who raised this question of Kheta in the Parliament, we have got this opportunity to train our women not only in making more vibrant Khetas but also make them aware of its marketability,” he said.
To make Kheta embroidery work as a source of income, the artwork is being introduced in new forms with the use of new clothes. This embroidery work is now done on bedsheets, notebook covers, bags, pillow covers, mufflers, table clothes and handkerchiefs etc.
As of now, seventy thousand workers are believed to be associated with this artwork.
Noticeably, unlike other embroidery works, Kheta avoids figurative depictions which are considered to be forbidden in Muslim culture. The colours used for Kheta are generally bright like red, green, yellow, blue, and purple.
Razia, 24, is a Shershabadi woman, and like every other Shershahabadi female, she knew a bit of Kheta.
She expressed her happiness in learning new designs and colour patterns of Kheta. She used to earn around 1$ per day by Beedi making. She now hopes to double her income by part-time Kheta making.
More than the money she is happy as she considers Kheta work as “Izzat wala kam (a respectful job.)”
Another trainee Rulekha Khatoon’s husband is a migrant labourer. Khatoon is 25-years-old and is doing Kheta work regularly for the last six years. She learnt the technique from her mother and grandmothers. “Earlier we used to make Kheta only for family purposes like dowry and gifts etc. This training showed us that we can sell our work too. I hope to earn Rs. 3000-4000 per month with the work of 3-4 hours,” she said.
47-year-old Tajgara Khatoon is a top trainer of Kheta. She told TwoCircles.net, “A needle and some threads are required to do wonders in Kheta embroidery but not without great painstaking concentration. Shershahabdi women learnt it naturally but this training is giving them a wider range of patterns.”
Inderjit De and Saumya Pande of Zameen Astar Foundation write in their paper on Kheta embroidery, “The term Kheta stands for straight running stitches in the local dialect and refers to both embroidery and the product. In its similarity to the word, Khet meaning farm, the term Kheta may resemble the meticulous lines of the paddy fields.”
According to the website involved in the promotion and marketing of Kheta, “the array of designs offered by Kheta resonates with ripples of water, materials used in building make-shift huts, flowers, dry fruits, leaves, among many more.”
Yuman Hussain is the executive director of Azad India Foundation which is actively involved in promoting Kheta and arranging training for workers.
Yuman told TwoCirles.net that the “training helps in benchmarking the skill level and understanding the quality control. It formalizes the knowledge transfer and helps in keeping the next generation interested in continuing the quilting practice.”
The training also provides the trainees with an artisan card with benefits like insurance and access to participate in different exhibitions.
“On average, a Kheta artisan can make 4 to 6 quilts (96″ x 60″ size) in a year. They can earn anything between Rs 10000 to Rs 30000 per year depending on how many quilts they are making, sizes of quilts, the skill level of quilting etc,” she said.
Yuman rued that even though most Shershabadi women know how to make Kheta, the supply of skilled artisans is less. “The work needs to be done on both sides to build awareness in the market and a supply chain base for these quality quilted Khetas,” she added.
Sami Ahmad is a journalist based in Patna, Bihar. He tweets at @samipkb
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net / May 05th, 2022
Belal’s All-India Category Rank (OBC) is 3rd. He will turn 18 on November 28 and is a product of renowned Rahmani 30 of Patna, Bihar. | Picture by arrangement
Mohammad Zeya Belal from a remote village in Bihar has topped the list of successful candidates from Bihar in this year’s NEET. A Rahmani 30 alumni, Belal credited his success to the positive environment at the institute founded by late Maulana Wali Rahmani.
Bihar :
Mohmmad Zeya Belal is a brilliant student. He has topped the list of successful candidates from Bihar in this year’s NEET – the top medical entrance test of India held by the National Testing Agency (NTA). His All India Rank (AIR) is 19th with a score of 715 out of a total of 720. He answered just one question incorrectly out of 180 questions.
His All-India Category Rank (OBC) is 3rd. Belal will turn 18 on November 28. He is a product of renowned Rahmani 30 of Patna.
Belal hails from Pandaul, a remote village in the Madhubani district of Bihar, some 180 kilometres north of the capital Patna. Interestingly, he has cracked the toughest engineering entrance test JEE (Advanced) meant for the IITs. Even more importantly, he got admitted to the top-ranked Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore after clearing the Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojna – a test meant to tap the young scientists.
Belal told TwoCircles.net that he is interested in medical studies and is raring to get admission at AIIMS, New Delhi, India’s top medical studies college.
Belal is the youngest of three brothers. One of his brothers Abdullah Ansari works in Guwahati and the eldest one is a teacher.
Belal said his elder brother is like a mentor for him as “our father Mohammad Masud Alam Ansari, who was a Physics teacher, died in 2010.” Belal was 7-years-old at that time. His mother Ruhi Khatoon is a housemaker.
Belal passed his 10th from S.K. High School, Pandaul with 90% marks and 86.2% in his 12th. He got to know about Rahmani 30 from his senior Nafe Faiz. His studies at Rahmani 30 was a mix of offline and online education amid the Covid-19 lockdown.
Belal is all praise for his teachers at Rahmani 30. He aspires to be a cardiologist after completing his MBBS. “I want to thank Atul sir for his continuous support. He is an academic chief there and keeps away from any limelight,” he said.
Belal cites two things as U.S.P. of Rahmani 30. “The environment for self-study and group discussions are its hallmark. The group discussion is a big help in doubt clearing,” he said.
Belal believes in focused and disciplined studies. He was focused to succeed in NEET though he cleared JEE (Advanced).
He said that that he had to study Mathematics for his Physics preparation which helped him crack the engineering test too.
His mother Ruhi Khatoon told TwoCircles.net said that she didn’t have to tell Belal to study. Her only complaint with Belal is that he doesn’t eat well. She is ecstatic about her son’s success and distributed sweets in the village.
Bilal with his mother Ruhi Khatoon at their home. | Picture by arrangement
Belal’s brother Abdullah said that it was Amir-e-Shariat late Hazrat Maulana Wali Rahmani’s efforts that brought success for all the students of Rahmani 30. “Belal was helped immensely by Atul sir there,” he said,” he said, adding, “The environment at Rahmani 30 is quite helpful for organized studies.”
“Despite the absence of our father, I didn’t have to force Bilal to study. He would always do it on his own,” he said.
Belal said that he follows sports but cites a lack of time for not pursuing it fully. His scores at NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) give a picture of what he has achieved. His percentile obtained in Physics is 99.9969565. He obtained 99.9942368 percentile in Chemistry and Biology he got 99.9987049 percentile. The cut-off marks for qualifying as per Medical Council of India is 50th for unreserved and EWS (Economically Weaker Section) category which falls between 720-138 number. For OBC (Other Backward Castes) it is 40th percentile which falls 137-108 marks.
Tausif Alam has studied with Belal for quite some time and himself has been allotted a seat in IIT, Delhi. Talking about Bilal’s success, he said, “Belal has a completely different mind. He is both a hard worker and a smart working boy. We all knew that he would do better. We all are happy that he achieved such a feat.”
On the night when the NEET results were announced, discussions went on till 3 o’clock. In 2020, fifty students of Rahmani 30 qualified NEET and got admission in different government medical colleges for MBBS. This year the number is expected to be better.
Sami Ahmad is a journalist based in Patna, Bihar. He tweets at @samipkb.
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Sami Ahmad , TwoCircles.net / November 04th, 2021
Tausif, Zuarez and Qaif have qualified for admission at India’s prestigious institutes. | Photos by arrangement
At least 65 students, including one girl, of Rahmani 30 – an educational movement for underprivileged students started in Patna, Bihar by late Wali Rahmani, have qualified for admission in the prestigious Indian Institutes of Techonlogy (IITs) this year. TCN features some of them.
Bihar :
Zaurez Ahmed (17) has secured 393rd rank this year in India’s topmost engineering entrance test known as Joint Entrance Exam (Advanced). His father Shakeel runs a modest general store in Jalwara, Kewti of Darbhanga, one of the most backward areas of Bihar. His family was in no position to afford the expensive private coaching for such exams. It was Rahmani 30 that came to his rescue.
Like Zaurez, there are atleast 65 students, including one girl, of Rahmani 30 who have qualified for admission in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) this year from the main centre at Patna. All 93 aspirants from Rahmani 30 qualified for JEE (Main). Across India, there are 23 IITs having 16000 seats for which more than 1.6 lakh applicants participated in the JEE (Advanced). These are shortlisted from one million aspirants of JEE (Main).
Rahmani 30 is modelled on Super30, the first such centre for coaching students for the IIT entrance test. Rahmani 30 was founded by the renowned Islamic scholar late Hazrat Maulana Wali Rahmani in 2008. Since 2009, Rahmani 30 boasts of more than 400 successful students who have qualified for admission in different IITs. Apart from this, nearly 1000 students have qualified for JEE (Main) and the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), the second most prestigious engineering institute of India.
Rahmani 30 offers the top 30 students free stay, food and education which costs around Rs. 60 lakhs for two years.
What is special about Rahmani 30? “Apart from the low cost or no cost stay at Rahmani 30, the ever availability of teachers and mentors here is immensely helpful,” Zaurez told TwoCircles.net.
He said that teachers at Rahmani 30 are “quite supportive.”
Zaurez cites ‘deeni mahaul (religious atmosphere)’ at the centre as helpful in having a ‘useful break’. His EWS (Economically Weaker Section) category rank is 28 and he is quite hopeful to get Computer Science at IIT, New Delhi.
Rahmani 30 has its branches at Aurangabad (Maharashtra), Bangalore and Hyderabad. Apart from the main centre, there is a girls unit in Patna. The main centre is being run in a rented apartment ‘Anand Palace’ at Anisabad, Patna.
A normal day for studies starts at 7 in the morning and continues till 9 in the evening.
Mantasha Firdous (17), who qualified this year, is the first female student of Rahmani 30 since its establishment to compete successfully for JEE (Advanced). Generally, the girl aspirants join Rahmani 30 for the medical entrance test NEET. However, Mantasha has a knack for mathematics. She has secured an EWS rank of 4074 and hopes to get “a good branch at a good IIT’. She said that the “group of girls” at the centre was quite helpful for her to remain focused on studies.
At Rahmani 30, the aspirants are admitted for a two-year residential course. As Covid-19 hit their preparation, an online mode was learning was started in 2020. Most students attended online classes on mobile phones though there were network issues for those residing in remote areas.
Tausif Alamhas (17) secured CRL (Common Rank List) 7169 and a category rank of 1339. His father Mohammad Rashid works as a tailor and his mother is a homemaker. His family could not send him to study at any coaching centre as they charged a hefty fee. He came to know about Rahmani 30 from one of his senior and passed the test to get admission.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, he said the most helping part of Rahmani 30 is “group study where peers help in doubt clearing.”
“My motivation level only rose with the continuous encouragement from the teachers. It helped increase my willpower too,” Tausif said. His next aim is to crack the country’s top exam for civil services U.P.S.C.
Seventeen-year-old Qais Alam’s success has a twist. His father is a small farmer and suffers from poor eyesight. Qais hails from Marar, a remote village in the Khagaria district of Bihar. He didn’t have much of an idea about IITs. He appeared for Aligarh Muslim University’s entrance test for a three-year Engineering diploma course and qualified. He studied there for two years, and quit before completing his degree. This was during 2016-17. He came to know about Rahmani 30 and was selected for its two-year preparation course. He appeared for JEE (Advanced) in 2020 in his first attempt but was not satisfied with his result. He reappeared for JEE again in 2021. He bettered his All India Ranking to 6025 from his 2020’s performance of 28000th rank. His EWS rank also improved to 639 from above 3000. He is hoping to get admission at IIT Delhi or IIT Madras. He too aims to clear U.P.S.C. after graduation from the IIT.
Twenty-three-year old Atif Hussain is in his 3rd year at IIT Guwahati. He originally hails from Bihar but his family is settled in Kolkata, West Bengal. Atif’s father Phool Mohammad sells Lahti bangles (lac bangles) which and his business has been hit due to Covid-19 lockdown. His mother is a housemaker. Atif studied in Urdu medium Howrah High School and got 84% marks in his 10th Board examination. He came to know about Rahmani 30 from a senior. He said that getting admission in Rahmani 30 was the ‘turning point’ of his life. “Teaching guidance and peer study environment at Rahmani 30 was very useful,” Atif, who is fond of research and coding, said.
Though Rahmani 30 was started for helping underprivileged students crack the IIT entrance test, it has ventured into other top examinations like Medical, Commerce and Law. In its CA/CS program, out of 10 successful candidates this year, five were girls.
Rahmani 30 calls itself “a movement, not an institution” which hankers “to demonstrate that economically, socially and educationally backwards and suppressed students when given the opportunity rise to the occasion.” It is “established to be the catalyst for inspiring the minorities to aim high to seek their rightful places.”
Rahmani 30’s founder late Maulana Rahmani had a clear vision about this centre. He was of the opinion that, “Utmost service to the religion during these times is to educate our youth and upcoming generations with contemporary subjects while keeping their faith firmly established and their self-confidence high; so that, they excel in religion, are adorned with education, have an appreciation of hard work and therefore are able to navigate and make confident decisions in their life.”
Bihar’s former Director General of Police (DGP) Abhayanand has been a great help for Rahmani 30 as a mentor since its beginning. Known for his Physics teaching skills, Abhayanand is credited with starting super 30 along with Anand Kumar, to teach poor students of Bihar to crack IIT JEE.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, Abhayanad was delighted that Rahmani 30 is expanding in size and dimension in the right direction.
Late Maulana Wali Rahmani had approached him to be the mentor of this centre and he readily accepted the proposal. “There didn’t exist a good trend for education in Muslim community, particularly in the weaker sections. I thought it would be in the broader interest of the country to help such students,” Abhayanand said.
His only and interesting condition was, “I will not interfere in the administration of the centre and Maulana will not interfere in teaching at the centre.”
Maulana Fahad Rahmani, the younger son of late Maulana Wali Rahmani is the current CEO of Rahmani 30.
He told TwoCircles.net that Rahmani 30 initially started with 10 students and “in 12 years the number of students has gone up to 900.”
Maulana Fahad aims to increase the number to 15000 across India at the end of this decade. “If we consider the total number of institutions of national importance to be one lakh, its corresponding number for the Muslim community should be 15 % of it, which is roughly the population of the community in India,” he argues, adding, “To achieve this goal the community support needs to be increased. If we can arrange one donor for one student we will need 15000 donors, which is not beyond reach.”
Maulana Fahad insists that he doesn’t believe in the traditional fund collection.
On the success rate of girl students of Rahmani 30, Maulana Fahad said that it was his father and the late chairman Maulana Wali’s wish to see the girl students excel in engineering too. “Alhamdulillah, this year it has started, and it get better in the coming years.”
Sami Ahmad is a freelance journalist based in Patna, Bihar. He tweets at @samipkb
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net / October 23rd, 2021
The coaching and guidance center run at the Haj Bhawan under the Minority Welfare Department of the Bihar government provides residential preparation for government jobs and academic examinations. The Haj Bhawan started offering guidance first in Bihar civil services and is helping students in police inspector’s job test. Lately, the center has been in news for the success it has achieved.
Bihar :
Unlike other Haj Bhawan’s in the country, the Haj Bhawan of the northern Indian state of Bihar is not sending Muslim pilgrims to Mecca for Hajj. The Bhawan is doing a different and sometimes a more urgent and laudable one. It is in news for sending minority students on a job journey to secure top level state jobs.
The coaching and guidance center run at the Haj Bhawan under the Minority Welfare Department of the Bihar government provides residential preparation for government jobs and academic examinations. The Haj Bhawan started offering guidance first in Bihar civil services and is helping students in police inspector’s job test.
Fifty-three of Haj Bhawan’s coaching and guidance center’s candidates were declared successful in the recently announced result of Bihar Public Service Commission’s examination for the top civil state job. Out of nearly 1400 successful candidates, 101 were Muslim candidates.
Similarly, fifty-three Haj Bhawan’s candidates were selected for the post of Sub Inspector in Bihar Police. Importantly, 19 successful candidates in the BPSC exam and 11 in the police exam are female.
Of late, the Bihar government’s initiative to provide ‘coaching’ to the students for government job examinations has been quite a success. Bihar has also seen the success of privately run Rahmani 30 for Muslim students for engineering and medical entrance tests.
Maulana Mazharul Haque Arabic and Persian University is the nodal agency for the government’s state coaching scheme. While the facilities are free here, only Rs. 3500 are charged as mess fee. For those whose candidates whose families cannot even afford that and are economically weak, the mess fee is waived off.
This coaching and guidance center was established in the financial year 2006-07. Initially, it struggled but since the year 2010, it has been bringing success to the state. Till 2019, 1517 candidates have been selected for jobs from here out of 4777 selected candidates for coaching. In 2019-20 the centre gave coaching to 860 and in 2020-2021, the number of students who received coaching was 568.
The centre promises to provide free residential coaching for the jobs offered by Bihar Public Service Commission, general police jobs like sub-inspectors and constables, jobs offered by Railways and staff selection commission. The centre also provides coaching for the preparation of the University Grants Commission’s exams like the National Eligibility Test (NET) and Junior Research Fellow (JRF). It also gives coaching for Teachers Eligibility Tes (TET).
However, the success in Bihar Public Service Commission’s exam is getting all the accolades to this center at Haj Bhawan. The center conducts entrance tests for its different coaching programmes. For the BPSC jobs, each year 150 candidates are selected out of nearly 1000 candidates who sit for its entrance test. The entrance test is advertised in the local newspapers and on social media too.
Features of the Center Mohammad Rashid Hussain is the coordinator of this coaching and guidance centre. He has studied at Jawahar Lal Nehru University (JNU) and Hamdard Study Circle. He did his masters in Persian and Central Asian Studies from JNU, and qualified for JRF and SRF. Hussain later moved to Hamdard Study Circle. In 2007, he cleared the BPSC examination and joined Bihar Administrative Service.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, Hussain said that he has adopted the model from Hamdard Study Circle. “The 24 hours open library, test series, lectures by the top experts and online-offline study materials are the salient features of this center,” he said.
He said that the environment of group study is quite helpful. “Discipline is quite strict here. No one needs to go outside to get anything related to their studies,” Hussain said, who also works as CEO of Bihar Haj Committee.
According to Hussain, the mock interview preparation at the Centre is quite successful. “So much so, that even non-minority students approach us for the interview and this service is provided to them,” he added.
Hussain said that the girl candidates get maximum safety measures at the Centre, and “this keeps them focused in their preparations.” The girl candidates are provided separate rooms, mess and prayer hall. There are two female wardens for them.
What inspires candidates at the Centre Mohammad Adil Bilal got 22nd rank in BPSC’s examination and would be a Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy SP) after training. Adil’s father teaches English at a college in Darbhanga.
Talking about his success, Adil said that the coordination between seniors and juniors at the Centre “worked wonders for him.” He said that seniors were very helpful in pointing out the shortcomings and suggesting ways for improvement.
Razia Sultan, an engineer by profession, was also selected for the post of Dy SP. In fact, it is claimed that she is the first Muslim lady in Bihar to get this post directly. She joined the center after clearing the mains examination.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, she said that “she got a lot of motivation here.” She appreciates the guidance for the interview.
Noorjahan, another successful candidate, told TwoCircles.net that she got the best training here in personality development. She quotes an oft-repeated saying by the center’s coordinator Mohammad Rashid Hussain that “a ship is safe at the harbour but it is not made for the harbour,” as very motivating.
“This inspired me to work hard,” she said.
Another successful candidate, Sima Khatoon has done her Computer Engineering from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. She has been selected for Panchayati Raj Officer.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, she said that that “any Muslim girl can achieve success.”
She is all praise for the facilities and guidance that was provided to her at the Centre. “Allah has listened to my prayers for a platform to work for social welfare,” she said.
More works needed Afzal Hussain of Bihar Rabita Committee, which works for the minority community, told TwoCirlces.net that the success at Haj Bhawan is “commendable and its success needs to be emulated.” He said that the six centres supposed to impart coaching to minority students for job examinations at Patna, Darbhanga, Motihari, Kishanganj and Bhagalpur should also be developed along the lines of Haj Bhawan.
Social activist Nashoor Ajmal said that while the success at Haj Bhawan is welcome, “we should seriously think about the abysmal representation of Muslim community in government jobs while their population constitutes almost 17 per cent in Bihar.”
Experts and successful candidates are of the opinion that more efforts are needed and such initiatives should start at the Masjid committee level in the state.
Ajmal added the government of Bihar should work for the educational upliftment of the Muslim community by conducting special drives.
Sami Ahmad is a journalist based in Patna, Bihar.
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net / July 02nd, 2021
Forty-one-year old Tabassum Ali from Patna, Bihar is a single woman riding a Bullet motorcycle and works tirelessly for promotion of the rights of women in the state and country.
Patna:
On the morning of April 13, forty-one-year old social worker Tabassum Ali met with National Cadet Corps’s (NCC) group commander Brigadier Vinesh Rana at Patna, Bihar. Soon after, she had a meeting with Manish Mahiwal, a budding YouTuber, to discuss a play on the liberation of Bangladesh. Afterwards, she rushed to attend a civil society meeting to save India’s iconic Khuda Bakhsh Library in Patna from demolition. After the meeting, she came to meet a woman to discuss her legal case.
While attending to this busy schedule, she missed a meeting at Biharsharif, some eighty kilometres south of Bihar’s capital Patna to discuss the location issue of the minority girls’ hostel.
This is how a normal day goes for Tabassum Ali, one of the most visible faces in Patna.
Tabassum is single with no children. Her family include social workers and people she helps with her social work. She rides a 450 cc Bullet motorbike, with all the gears a bike racer would have – helmet, gloves, and boots etc.
She wanted to be a commercial pilot and still nurtures that dream.
During her interview with TwoCircles.net, Tabassum’s phone kept ringing. She was getting calls from CRPF asking her for some sort of support and calls for donating plasma for a Covid-19 patient.
A few weeks ago, she attended a meeting of the Bihar Rabita Committee, an NGO working for the educational progress of the Muslim community in Patna. When its Secretary announced that Tabassum loves to ride her Bullet, every head moved towards her. But this doesn’t deter her.
Social work and adventure are Tabassum’s two passions. Her love for social work started in New Delhi where she came to know about a minor rape victim who was being treated at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. She recalls, “Ignorant of her trauma, the girl always smiled after meeting me. This made me weep and I resolved to work for such girls.”
Her NGO ‘Make a New Life’ works for rape survivors.
Among many cases she has fought, one was a legal case for a newly-wed Muslim girl of Fatuha in Patna district. The girl was sent back to her home by her husband for no valid reason after only six days of marriage. It had come to fore that the girl’s husband was already married and his previous wife was alive. He had lied to the girl’s family that his wife was dead. The girl was divorced after a few months. Tabassum fought the case from Mahila Thana (police station meant for women) to the court. The girl’s Khala (mother’s sister) was known to Tabassum. This got Tabassum involved in the case and she succeeded in getting a compensation of Rs 9 lakhs for the victim.
Tabassum talks about another case of an 8th standard girl who was raped but the “police were not registering a case against the accused.” It was only after Tabassum intervened that an FIR was registered and the accused was arrested.
Tabassum’s ride on her Bullet for doing social work may seem smooth but she says the journey of her life has been bumpy.
Born to a Muslim father and an Anglo-Indian mother in a remote town of Jhaha in Bihar, she studied in a Railway school till class 6. She was moved to a girl’s school after much persuasion to study till matriculation.
“Unfortunately, I could not write the exams as the examination centre was away. Next time, I failed in one subject,” she said.
Tabassum was finally able to pass the matriculation exams on her third attempt.
To qualify for a commercial pilot course, she studied mathematics in her Intermediate and passed the examination of I.Sc but somehow could not qualify for the pilot course.
Meanwhile, she got married. Her attempt to start a new life in the national capital New Delhi with her husband was short-lived. She soon separated from her husband.
Being a single woman now, she worked as HR help and gave tuitions. Finally, she decided to move to Patna and reunited with her family with the help of some relatives.
“I love adventure,” she said.
She has travelled to 29 Indian states on a bicycle, covering nearly 12800 kilometres in 173 days, to create rights awareness among women. For two years, she has worked as a volunteer in AIIMS, New Delhi at its cancer centre for children.
Satyanarayan Madan, a well-known social worker from Patna describes Tabassum as “one of the most fearless and dedicated social workers of Bihar.”
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net / April 30th, 2021
