Centenary year: Jamia to host Modi next; work on medical college to begin this year

Jamia Millia Islamia Vice Chancellor Prof Najma Akhtar addressing a press conference at her office on the Tuesday on the eve of the beginning of the university’s centenary year. Registrar of the University AP Siddiqui (IPS) is sitting on the left.

Oct 29, 2019

New Delhi: As Jamia Millia Islamia University enters 100th years of its foundation tomorrow, it has set itself the target of increasing the number of girl students to at least 50, and starting work on setting up the much needed medical college cum hospital.

The University, which launhed a three-day Foundation Day function on Tuesday on completion of 99 years, will hold its convocation tomorrow with President Ram Nath Kovind as chief guest, while in the next convocation to be held during the centenary year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be hosted by the University.

Making these announcements here, Vice Chancellor Prof Najma Akhtar said the University had made strides on various counts but it still lacked a medical college, a project which she hoped would get off soon, saying as she had very positive discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard. Hospital Management & Elder care(hospice) and Foreign Languages.

She also said that it would be good for the university if it got a land for the proposed medical college in its vicinity. She, however, said that the university needed expansion and would have to look land elsewhere for its second campus.

One of the priority areas for her was also increasing the number of female students, as at present girls formed only 36 per cent of the 20,000 students in Jamia.

”One reason for lower per centage of girls was the lack of hostels, she said pointing out that as a large part of jamia students was drawn from all over India, and while boys could get accommodation anywhere outside the campus, parents of girls were hesitant in letting them stay outside the security of the campus,” she said.

So, the university has to construct more hostels, for which funds were required. ”We are soon going to have some policy reviews to draw in more girls to Jamia,” Prof Akhtar said.

The Vice Chancellor said the university had recently started a number of courses and will soon have new ones on Hospital Management & Elder care(hospice), environment and climate change and innovation and design. Several foriegn language courses, including Korean and Chinese, had also been started.

Jamia has got very good teachers and researchers, with their work being recognised internationally, and its students are doing very well in various fields, but this work is not much talked about, she said and appealed to the media to inform people about the what the university was doing.

Replying to a question on holding of students union, she said they had not happened since the last 12 years, and pointed out that the matter was sub-judice.  She, however, added ”Union is not a bad thing,”

Registrar of the University AP Siddiqui (IPS) said Jamia caters to the middle class and lower middle class students from across India and it has a truly national character. There was a place for all kind of views, and scope for everybody on the campus, he added.

Earlier, Prof Akhtar, while kick-starting the three-day event at the Ansari auditorium,  appealed to students and staff to work towards taking the university to a new height in the centenary year.

The campus wore a festive look today, with students roaming around in celebratory mood.

The celebrations began with hoisting of JMI flag by the Vice-Chancellor in the forecourt of the Dr. M.A.Ansari Auditorium of the university. She was also presented with a guard of honour by the NCC cadets, most of them girl students. Former JMI Vice Chancellor Syed Shahid Mahdi was the Chief Guest on the occasion.

Children performing at the launch of the three-day Foundation Day function.

Addressing students and staff in a packed  Auditorium, Prof. Akhtar dwelt upon the history of JMI and the role played by it during the freedom struggle and said that in true sense it is a nationalistic institution where teachers are working hard to motivate students to work towards nation building.

She explained Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi’s role in the establishment of JMI and said that its foundation was based on the spirit of nationalism.

A book written in Hindi titled ‘Jamia Aur Gandhi’ by JMI alumnus and journalist Afroz Alam Sahil was also released on the occasion.

At tomorrow’s convocation, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ will be the Guest of Honour  and Manipur Governor and Chancellor of the university Dr Najma Heptulla will preside over the convocation function.

–India News Stream