Chennai Mosque’s IAS Training Institute Gets A UPSC Topper

At a time when Muslim organizations and political parties are holding rallies and public meetings seeking to increase reservation in government jobs and educational institutions in the state and Centre, a mosque in Chennai has taken a different route to achieve this.

Moulana Shamsudheen Qasimi, chief imam of Makkah Masjid on Anna Salai is a proud man today as his efforts have borne fruit in the first attempt. He started a training academy for civil services aspirants within the premises of the mosque. Azhagiya Kadan IAS Academy was started on the third floor of the mosque with 28 aspirants in 2011. Today, one of its students, Mohammed Ashraf JS, has cracked the UPSC examination in his first attempt with a rank of 1,032.

Shamsudheen says that no other mosque in the country has a civil services exam training academy inside its premises. The academy provides coaching, food, accommodation, books and study materials to students free of cost. It spends more than Rs 40 lakh per year to run the academy, and all funding comes from members of the community.

Ashraf, who was working for Chennai Metro Rail Limited, quit his job in 2012 to make his childhood dream of joinng the civil services come true. Ashraf, who finished civil engineering in Anna University in 2011 is from Karaikudi in Sivaganga district, where his father runs a welding workshop. After completing his graduation, he joined CMRL for a salary of Rs 28,000 a month.

He was one of the 28 students shortlisted from the 1,200 applications the academy received. He joined the academy in August 2012 and took the UPSC exam in May 2013. Though he was ranked as 1,032 when the UPSC examination results were announced on Thursday, it is seen as an achievement by the community members. The academy is expected to play a huge role in motivating young Muslims in future.

Shamsudeen said, “Muslim students should be motivated by Ashraf’s achievement. We want more students to come forward and join the academy. Right now, we have 50 students studying here. Next year, we plan to take in 100 students.”

Ashraf said he was able to crack the exam only because of the academy and the environment it provided. “Muslim parents should change their mindset of sending children to foreign countries as labour. Instead, they should give them a good education. We have only 2% representation in IAS. It can be increased only through education and making use of academies like the one I studied in,” Ashraf said.

Students who want to enroll for the next (2014-15) batch can register online at www.akias.in from June 15 to August 12.

Source: ToI