Shams Ahsan

Saudi Gazette

 

JEDDAH – He is a man with a mission and a vision. Years of military service have hardened him and made him a tough taskmaster, a disciplinarian and a believer in action rather than rhetoric.



Lt. Gen. (Rtd) Zameeruddin Shah, who took part in the battle of Longewala in the Indo-Pak war of 1971, is today fighting a different battle as the vice chancellor of India’s premier Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).



His mission: To revive the glory of AMU and restore its minority character. His vision: To make AMU the best university in India by 2017 and among the 200 best in the world by 2020.



This is a Herculean task considering the fact that AMU is ranked ninth among top 10 institutions of higher learning in India, according to a latest survey by the Times Higher Education Magazine, UK.



But to achieve his aim Shah has been globetrotting of late, generating funds and reestablishing ties with AMU alumni, who euphemistically and nostalgically address themselves as old boys.



“The central grant is enough to keep your head above the water. We have received a special grant of Rs150 crores (Rs1,500 million) from the government this year. But if we are going to march forward we need an immense infusion of funds,” he told Saudi Gazette in an exclusive interview here on Monday evening. “It’s payback time,” he has been telling the alumni. And the alumni are paying back.



“We have got permission to generate funds through Non-Resident Indians (NRIs),” Shah says, clearing all doubts about the legality of generating funds and maintaining transparency. “The AMU Alumni Fund has got all the clearance. It is directly under the vice chancellor. It is managed by the pro-vice chancellor and the registrar. All contributions are acknowledged and put on the website. The expenditure too will be put on the website. All of this will be open for the alumni to examine, so there will be total transparency,” he said.



Shah is also receptive to the problems of Gulf NRIs, who lack proper higher education avenues for their children in their countries of work. “I quite understand the problem. There are children of blue collar workers who are deserving but certainly cannot pay the NRI fee. I am going to have another look at this. I think we need to reexamine it,” Shah said, and suggested the establishment of what he called a “sliding scale” of fee structure.



“We can have a sort of a sliding scale depending on the income of the NRI parents. A sliding scale would be more practical. But reducing the fees totally to what the students in India are paying will deprive AMU of a lot of funds which the NRIs are contributing.



“In addition, we are trying to attract NRI students. I think the factor that acts as a deterrent is the fact that we don’t have an NRI hostel. Now I am aware that NRI students are used to a higher standard of living and the present scale of accommodation really would not suit them.”



Shah also acknowledged that NRIs have problems of attendance because of iqama-related issues. “We will try and have all payments and all applications online. The request has also come, and we are examining whether we should have one or two examination centers in the Gulf. We are in the process of trying to help our NRIs in whatever way we can.”



The vice chancellor also wants to reopen the AMU center in Dubai. “I am going to examine why it was closed. There is a lot of resistance to opening AMU centers, even the ones we opened in India have faced  considerable resistance. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to open AMU centers in the Gulf. I will have a look at it. I am open to it.”



Shah also wants to revive ties with the Gulf. “We are going to make protracted efforts to reestablish links with the authorities in the Gulf and I hope that because of our concerted efforts we will be able to have many more visits.



“So far we have been concentrating only on universities in the West. But after my visit, I realized that universities in the Gulf are among the top universities of the world, and we should open our windows to them. So I think students and faculty members of both AMU and the Gulf will benefit greatly if we have student-to-student contact. So we are on the verge of launching our efforts to have MOUs and understandings with universities in the Gulf. We should take advantage of the fact that they have modernized very, very quickly within a period of 10 years.” Shah is straightforward and forthright when he lists the shortcomings of AMU, something which most people shy away from.



“Our standard of research has fallen. It is not productive. It is just paperwork. We need to make our research more productive according to the requirements of  industry. Our departments have to spearhead new medical and agricultural revolutions.



“We have an acute shortage of teachers. In some cases there has been no general selection committee for 15 years. As a result, departments are dependent on temporary teachers called guest faculty. They are selected every year. We need to draw the best talent. Since the guest faculty tenure is only one year, it attracts only locals.



“Our classrooms are antiquated. We are still at the chalk-and-blackboard stage. We are making attempts - at least this academic session - to create 100 smart classrooms. We have to improve the standard of students who enter the university.”



But Shah does not fully agree that inbreeding is a major problem. “It certainly affects us, but it should not be taken as a major problem. We have to be selective. We have to maintain certain academic standards. We are not going to allow the recruitment of ill-equipped teachers.” Then he lists the things he has done since assuming office some 18 months ago.



“We have also introduced the semester system for every course. This has helped in improving academics and attendance.



“For the last 18 months, the university has not been closed for a single day. There have been no strikes except for some little problems with the doctors who were roughed up by patients. The university has functioned unhindered. We had the convocation after many, many years. We have been able to establish the rule of law. The days of “sine dies,” closures and police action in the university are over. We have been able to rid the hostels of a few illegal elements.”



One of the major tasks of the vice chancellor is to decongest the hostels, which have the capacity to accommodate 6,000 students but are housing more than 15,000.



“There are two hostels on the cards: a girls hostel with a capacity to house 1,500 students, and a boys hostel accommodating 1,000. This will take at least two years.



“We aim to get the girl students into the campus because they are living in the city. It is unsafe for them to travel through some of the notorious stretches.”



Talking about AMU’s centers in minority pockets of India, Shah said that efforts are being made to upgrade these centers into full-fledged universities. The Ministry of Minority Affairs is looking to open six central universities in minority areas. The Maulana Azad Fund will financially support these universities. I have offered three centers to be upgraded.



The university is also planning to open new faculties like the Faculty of International Affairs with departments of strategic affairs, the conservation of energy, and foreign languages where Chinese, German, French Turkish and Hebrew will be taught, Shah said as he prepared for his trip to Tabuk, yet another stop in his hectic itinerary.