AMU ALUMNI MEET 2015

Its quite difficult to sum up the recently concluded AMU Alumni meet 2015 in words . In my whole life I have never witnessed such enthusiasm, dedication, hard work and professionalism in any meet . More than 600 delegates ( AMU Alumni) across the globe gathered to pay tribute to the founder of AMU , the great Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and also pledged to take his mission forward by investing time, talent and treasure. The three day event started with SS day celebrations on 17th October 2015 , The chief guest of the event was Mr. PK Abdu Rabb, Minister for Education and Culture, Government of Kerala , who himself is a proud alumnus of AMU. In the evening each and every hall of AMU hosted its annual SS day dinner and eminent alumni of AMU presided those functions as chief guests.

On 18th October 2015, AMU Alumni meet commenced at Kennedy auditorium and the dais was full of eminent alumni consists of Chief guest Mr. Javed Usmani ( CIC, Uttar Pradesh Govt), Prof. Habib Zuberi ( Emeritus professor of economics , University of Michigan, USA), Dr. Ashok Seth ( Padam Bhushan, Chairman , Fortis-Escorts Heart Institute, New Delhi),Mr. Ameer Ahmad ( Chairman & Group MD of Manappat group of companies, Dubai, UAE), Mr. Nasir uddin Shah ( Padambhushan, Renowned actor, Mumbai) , Vice Chancellor Lt. General Zamir Uddin Shah, Pro Vice Chancellor Brigadier Ahmad Ali & Dr. Suhail Sabir ( Chairman of Alumni Affairs committee, AMU ), who made not only the alma mater but also the country proud through their work and talent.

After inspirational speeches from distinguished guests , an alumni Dr. Afshan Hashmi donated her wedding jewellery for the cause of alma mater , which was auctioned on the stage and the total money collected through this auction was in excess of Rs 70 Lakhs . Highest bidder was a proud alumni from Mumbai Mr. Rais Ahmad , who gave the jewellery back to AMU to be preserved in AMU museum.

After the inaugural session , various other sessions took place which emphasised on AMU & Alumni Interface , Alumni role in Infrastructure development & Alumni & Student Interaction. The sessions were addressed by alumni from USA, Middle East, Canada & India and they gave detailed presentations inline with the theme of sessions and promised to take AMU to new heights through their continuos support & experience . The speakers include the likes of Dr. Shaheer Khan, Mr. Syed Ali Rizvi, Mr. Masood Akhtar, Mr. Nausha Asrar, Mr. Rais Ahmad, Mr. Nadim Tarin, Mr. Mohammad Ahmad Badshah, Mr. Sayed Mohammad Naved, Mr. Syed Hasan Kamaal, Mr. Mohammad Zaigham Khan, Mr. Faisal Saleem, Mr. Ameer Ahmad , Mr Umar Farooq, Mr. Md Mudassir Alam, Mr. Mubarak Raza Naqvi & Zartab Haider Jafri...There were three presentations by Students as well which showcased various innovations and projects undertaken by them .

The day ended with a play " Karbal Katha" & Dinner .

On the second day of the meet , Alumni visited & witnessed the infrastructure projects like extension of B.R. Ambedkar Hall & a new manufacturing unit for Unani medicines . In the afternoon the foundation stone of new residence hall " Riyadh Hall" was laid by The Vice Chancellor Mr. Zamirduddin Shah & Mr. Nadim Tarin . This hall is being built by the efforts of Alumni from Saudi Arabia.

Alumni also visited the new art gallery , a smart classroom , Bridge course ( Ambitious initiative by VC to bridge Madrassa education & modern education ) & convention centre in Engineering department .

The day ended with Valedictory session in which the chief guest was another proud alumnus and recipient of coveted Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar award,Dr. Rajeev Kumar Varshney . The session was presided by one of the illustrious alumnus and recipient of Nishan-E-Imtiyaz , Brigadier Mohd Shafi Sb, who despite of his fragile health and old age (88 Years) , came all the way from Pakistan , to be a part of this event. He also donated Rs 7.5 lakhs to the alma mater.

To sum it up, these were the most enthralling three days of my life where I have witnessed the zeal and enthusiasm of Alumni and their urge to contribute in every way possible towards the growth and development of Alma mater . I was also moved with the benevolent and kind hearted gesture of the students , teachers and other faculty members who also pledged and donated whatever they can for the cause of alma mater .

It will be gross injustice If I will not appreciate the untiring and selfless efforts of whole Alumni affairs committee , who made this event possible and also left no stone unturned in making it one of the most successful event ever organised in the annals of alma mater history . Chairman of Alumni Affairs committee, Dr. Suhail Sabir, deserves special mention , as without his engagement and zeal this would not have been possible . He was duly supported by Dr. Ali Jafar Abedi, Prof. Syed Ziaur Rahman, Prof. Asad .U.Khan, Prof Akram Javed & Dr. Mohammad Zain Khan . The unsung heroes of this event , the volunteers , worth kudos and salutes and they sacrificed their sleep to make alumni comfortable at all times.

Few questions like the building of AMU centres at Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, though remain to be answered and I am pretty sure that under the dedicated aegis of Vice Chancellor Zamir Uddin Shah , those will also be able to see the light of the day .

I can proudly say that university is in safe and sound hands and the dedicated duo of VC and Pro VC along with their teams will ascertain that the growth of AMU will go unabated.

I end with these lines of Majaz

" Zarraat Ka Bosa lene ko Sau baar Jhuka Aakash Yahan,

Khud Aankh se hamne dekhi hai Baatil ki Shikaste Faash Yahan"

Yeh Mera Chaman hai mera Chaman, Main Apne Chaman ka Bulbul hoon "

"Sir Syed Zindabad----- AMU Paindabad "

Empowering rural India to contribute more in national development

India has a huge opportunity to improve the education standards in rural areas and create an even bigger skilled workforce.



India, despite of its 60 per cent population residing in villages, becomes one of the fastest developing nation thanks to the progress made in sectors like IT, real estate, pharmaceutical, retail, and medical. This growth was possible only because of the capable and intelligent manpower India boasts.


India has got one of the biggest set of skilled manpower in the world. Indians' proficiency in English gives them an edge over their Chinese counterparts globally. But are we really in a position to bid for a place among the elite developed nations of the world? The answer, sadly, is a no!

Our manpower is still inadequate to meet the demand. Industries such as biotechnology, construction, medical, and energy have a big amount of skilled manpower shortage. Till we do not meet this demand, we are not in any race for global supremacy.

The basic problem is the skilled manpower mainly comes from the urban areas (almost 90 per cent) of the country, whereas the 60 per cent of population residing in villages contributes only 10 per cent of the total. This divide should be enough for the government to look into possible reasons, and work out a way. The solution lies in developing the educational standard of the state and centre run educational institutions by providing cutting edge technologies to villagers in areas of education and Industry, and using the globally accepted medium of English.

Unfortunately, government's approach towards a solution is pathetic. Till date no concrete step has been taken to address the issue, on the contrary, new rules and regulations are being promoted in the educational sector based on reservation, which can probably make the educational system defunct later, if not sooner.

The difference in infrastructure is obvious if one pays a visit to any village in India. You'll find shabbily dressed students sitting on rags in the open, one student would be reading from his book and others repeating the same text in chorus, and all this while the teacher sits on a chair reading a newspaper and enjoying the morning. This is how most students in rural India get their education.

If you go and ask them basic questions you will get blank stares and wry smiles! There is no accountability of teachers. They mostly arrive late to the school, register their attendance and get busy in their personal work. Poor villagers are left at the mercy of such teachers. The parents are happy that at least their children are attending school. For them education is knowing how to write your name and read letters. Quite similar to the definition of literacy rate in India!

Educational superintendents and Basic Education Assistants (BSAs) do routine checkups of schools, sometimes in their areas of jurisdiction, not to check the quality of education but to ascertain that mid-day meal is properly distributed and all students have received uniforms allocated to them by government. Teachers are complacent for they don’t have to answer to any superior authority for the quality of education they impart. No wonder the level of education in villages is going down by the day. It's impossible to get superior set of skilled workers from such schools and institutions.
Ironically, private run institutions pay their teachers less than half of what state run educational institutions do, and still hold them accountable for a non-performing student. This accountability results in better individuals contributing to the economic growth of the country using their educational acumen. Until similar or a better system is not put in place in the state run institutions, mediocre students would continue to lose out in the race.

State governments needs to play a bigger role in curbing deteriorating standards of education in states. Caste based politics makes sure that voters from a specific caste benefit from the system, which includes education. Orders are issued from higher levels to allow all students from a particular caste or tribe reaches high school, regardless of how they fare in exams. If a teacher opposes he is suspended immediately. Such orders results in low attendance of students, as they are sure about the results, in state run institutions in villages. Thus the whole educational system goes for a toss!

The medium of education in these schools is still Hindi, which make students of these institutions lose out to their urban counterparts in bagging good jobs in the private sector, considered the epitome of India’s economic success.

India is sitting on a huge pile of future skilled manpower from villages, but, sadly it is not providing means to utilise that chunk. Unless the educational standards of state and centre run institutions are not improved, and the teachers are not held accountable, India would never be able to convert this unskilled force into skilled one.

Let's hope that our policy makers come up with a definite plan soon enough and India's global march continues unabated.