Foundation
for Social Care is running its Scholarship Programme since July 2000. Its third session
has commenced with the beginning of new academic year 2002-2003. The executors and
beneficiaries of the Programme welcome this session with distinct fervour and freshness.
Although it must be too early to expect an explicit tenor in its development, especially
in the wake of its short life, however, there is a steady progress in the execution of the
Programme as well as in its reach and extent. This Annual Report of the Scholarship
Programme of the Second Term from July 2001 to June 2002 may be considered as an invoking
testimony in this regard. Consequently, it may be evinced without any exaggeration that,
in a short span of time, the Programme is going to become one of the prime facilitators
towards the educational uplift of Indian Muslims, who paradoxically constitute the worlds
largest backward minority.
1. Introduction
The Scholarship Programme is one of the
major programmes and activities undertaken by a Lucknow-based public welfare trust,
‘Foundation for Social Care’. It is pertinent here to record that the Foundation
for Social Care has several fronts of activities since its foundation in 1994 including
Hayat Hospital (now Maulana Ali Mian Hospital), Radiance Institute of Computer
Applications, Radiance Institute of Career Orientation, Qard-e-Hasan Scheme, Social
Welfare Programme and Al-Farooq Public School. It has launched its Scholarship Programme
in July 2000 with the financial support of SEDCO.
The Programme was initially managed from
Lucknow, however, in April 2001 its Scholarship Office was shifted to New Delhi. This was
felt necessary for an effective management of the Programme in the wake of conspicuous
concentration of prospective beneficiaries in the National Capital of the country and in
nearby cities. The overall budget of the Programme is of the tune of four million rupees
per annum, which would gradually increase with the additional number of scholarships. The
Programme covers aspirants hailing from almost all North Indian states except those from
Jammu & Kashmir. The sponsors have provided a grant for 150 scholarships in the
reported session with a provision to add 50 new scholarships in the subsequent year,
categorised by the FSC as the ‘FSC Loan Scholarships (FLS)’. Besides, the FSC
has supported 5 students under a special scholarship scheme termed as ‘Sadbhavana
Scholarships (SBS)’, which was envisaged for non-Muslim students and one student
under Special Scholarships for Orphans (SSO). Thus, there were in all 156 beneficiaries,
favoured by a monthly scholarship of the Foundation.
2. Management
The management of the Programme is
structurally provided by the following five constituents, which function in a hierarchical
mode.
A. Board of Trustees of the FSC
& CMC
The Board of Trustees of the Foundation
for Social Care and its apex executive forum, Central Monitoring Committee (CMC), are the
top most policy-making constituents of the Programme. Apart from policy making, these
constituents are responsible for appointment of key functionaries of the Programme and its
fund mobilisation. The reports and recommendations pertaining to the Scholarship Programme
are regularly placed in their meetings for pertinent decisions. The Scholarship Office
received very active cooperation and guidance from the Head Office especially from the
President who was particular about timely accomplishment of the desired targets.
B. Committee of Scholarship Programme
The Committee of Scholarship Programme
(CSP) was constituted by the FSC in August 2001 for an effective and purposive management
of the Programme. It is comprised of the following:
Mr. Zaheer Ahmed Siddiqui - Chairman
Mr. Abdul Rasheed Agwan - Convenor
Dr. M. Zaki Kirmani - Member
Mr. Tariq Ikramullah - Member
Mr. Tariq Anwar Khan - Member
Mr. Ziaur Rahman Siddiqui - Ex-Officio
Member
It is on record that Dr Abdur Rauf was
initially nominated as the convener of the committee in the last week of August 2001,
however, he declined to spare time for it due to some pressing problems and Mr Abdul
Rashid Agwan was nominated as its Convenor in September 2001.
During the reported period, the Committee
held three meetings on 30 August, 23 September and 4 November 2001. In the first meeting,
the nature and function of the CSP was decided. The second meeting took some policy
decisions and framed certain guiding principles for shortlisting and selection of the
students. In the last meeting of the Committee, recommendations of the Scholarship Office
were considered for the award and renewal of scholarships for the term in the light of
assessments of the interview panels. The members of the Committee were regularly kept
abreast of the progress and developments at the Scholarship Office through Newsletter and
dispatches.
C. Unit Management Committee
In the wake of concerned decision of the
Central Monitoring Committee (CMC) of the FSC, all its units, sections, branches and
institutions were desired to have respective ‘unit management committee’ for
better management in view. Resultantly, the Unit Management Committee of the Scholarship
Programme was also constituted on 27 May 2002. The assigned function of this committee
would include day today decisions in the light of policies adopted by the CMC and CSP and
to provide a forum for frequent consultation among the top functionaries of Programme and
the office-bearers of the FSC. The first meeting of the UMC was proposed on 4 July 2002 at
Lucknow. In this meeting, the format of the Monthly Report of the Scholarship Programme
will be approved along with the Proposed Annual Budget for the term 2002-2003 and monthly
targets for July 2002.
The UMC of Scholarship Programme is
comprised of the following members:
1. Mr Ziaur Rahman Siddiqui Director, SP
Convenor
2. Mr Abdul Rashid Agwan Counselor, SP
Member
3.
Mr Tariq Anwar Khan Secretary, FSC Secretary
D.
Scholarship Office
The
executive section of the Scholarship Programme is termed as the Scholarship Office. It was
established at Lucknow in July 2000 but later on shifted to New Delhi. Since its transfer
from Lucknow in April 2001, the Scholarship Office was functioning in a rented basement in
Jamia Nagar, New Delhi. From there, it was shifted to the Hostel Project site of the FSC
in the same area in the first week of October 2001. The motive was to save the rent, to
develop the premises further and to provide more space for the activities of scholarship
beneficiaries. Some repair and reconstruction work was undertaken to render the site more
suitable for the Scholarship Office. The basic infrastructure for an effective management
of the Programme is gradually developing and it is hoped that the Office will be fully
equipped soon with all necessary facilities.
Mr
Ziaur Rahman Siddiqui is working as the incharge of the Office being the full time
Director of the Scholarship Programme since April 2001. Mr Abdul Rashid Agwan was
appointed as the Counselor of the Programme in September 2001 and since then he is
providing his services on part time basis. One full time Office Assistant has also been
provided to the Office. An office boy was also assisting the Office till March 2002,
However, due to financial constraints no one has been appointed in that capacity since
then.
The routine function of the Scholarship
Office include: contact with the beneficiaries, coordination with the CMC and the FSC Head
Office, organisation of regular meetings of beneficiaries through the centre incharges,
scholarship payments, supervision of the Distance Education Course of the Centre for
Studies on Science, development of necessary documents and reports, record keeping, etc.
Apart from the routine work, the Scholarship Office of the FSC Scholarship Programme
remained active through out the period of the report, basically for the improvement of the
management system and record keeping procedures to be followed by the Office. During this
period, several documents had come in force at the Office in the light of instructions of
the Head Office of the FSC and according to the decisions of the CSP. A list of the same
may be seen in the Annexure-2. Besides, the Scholarship Office has submitted to the Head
Office its Monthly Reports from October 2001 and the Quarterly Reports from
October-December 2001 onwards. Some other measures and achievements of the Office have
been reported under particular heads elsewhere in this report. One special accomplishment
of the Office was the development of Individual Profiles of Beneficiaries, which were
provided to the sponsors, although a bit late, in May 2002.
During the reported period, the officials
of the Scholarship Office, Mr Abdul Rashid Agwan and Mr Ziaur Rahman Siddiqui, visited the
Head Office of FSC on some occasions individually or jointly, i. e. in March and May 2002.
The Founder Secretary Mr Tariq Anwar Khan also paid two visits to the Scholarship Office
on 17 April and 14 June 2002. These meetings were found useful for various matters
pertaining to scholarship affairs.
E. Centre Incharges
Geographically, the region of the
Scholarship Programme covers almost all the states of North India excluding Jammu &
Kashmir. Naturally, it is not possible for the Scholarship Office to keep close relations
with the beneficiaries spread in such a vast region. Therefore, it was decided in the
second meeting of the CSP to appoint incharges in various parts of the region. The
designation for them was initially the state incharges, however, for more appropriateness
it was changed to centre incharges. Consequently, seven centres were visualised by the FSC
where there was significant concentration of the scholarship awardees. The following are
presently cooperating with the Scholarship Office as the respective centre incharges.
1. New
Delhi
Mr Ziaur Rahman Siddiqui
2.
Aligarh
Dr M. Zaki Kirmani
3.
Lucknow
Mr M. Slim Khan
4.
Kolkata
Mr Mr A. H. Imran
5.
Guwahati
Mr Muij Uddin Mehmud
6.
Indore
Mr M. Ibrahim Qureshi
7.
Jaipur
Mr H. M. Khan
8.
Ambala
Mr Tayyab Ahmad Falahi
9.
Malerkotla
Mr Jamilur Rahman
10.
Shimla
Ml Hafiz Ghulam Husain
During the reported period the first six
centres of the above list remained active, whereas there was a centre at Jodhpur, which
could not become functional during the term and was shifted to Jaipur in June. The Ambala,
Malerkotla and Shimla centres were not operative since there were no students around and
the cooperation of the respective centre incharges was sought mainly for the mobilisation
of applications from these under represented states. There are still some states where no
incharges were appointed under the Programme, i. e. Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and
Uttaranchal and may be appointed in due course
3. Framework
The framework of the Scholarship Programme
is formulated by some of the basic documents developed by the Scholarship Office such as
CSP Minutes, the Reappraisal of the FSC Scholarship Programme, Policies Governing
Scholarship Awards, Guidelines for Selection, etc, which make clear the FSC’s
viewpoint as regards the mission statement, objectives, policies and quotas of the FSC
Scholarship Programme. Some of the important relevant points are recorded here for the
convenience of information.
3.1 Mission Statement
The Muslims of India constitute the largest
minority in the world with a population of more than 150 million people. However,
unfortunately, they presently comprise educationally and economically a backward
community. The most effective mechanism for their proper advancement, in a challenging
situation obtained in the country, could be the over all efforts leading to both
qualitative and quantitative enhancement of their educational attainments, which require
systematic application of a number of promotional schemes. Foundation for Social Care,
Lucknow, humbly dedicates itself for this august cause with the limited resources at its
disposal and appreciates the sponsors for their kind gesture towards the fulfillment of
this mission through the arrangement of scholarships to meritorious students.
3.1 Objectives
The Programme visualises and cherishes for
the achievement of the following objectives for the progress and advancement of the target
community:
Promotions of overall standard of
education at various levels by encouraging systematic and scientific plan with explicit
goals.
Promotion of talented and genius students
by identifying their potential capabilities at formative stage and channelising their
academic pursuits so as to enable them to contribute their best to society.
Financial support in the form of
scholarships, study-grants, educational incentives, etc. to meritorious students of
socially disadvantaged groups intending to human resource development.
Comprehensive development of the
beneficiaries and other interested youth to equip them with useful skills and gainful
knowledge, leading to lasting success in life.
Development of team spirit and leadership
qualities in the beneficiaries and other associated students and youth to make them feel
the advantages of collective efforts in a competitive world.
Islamic orientation of beneficiaries and
other associated students and youth, to arouse their creative interest in the welfare and
development of the Ummah in particular and mankind in general.
3.3 Priorities
The
priorities of the Programme have been visualised as follows:
3.31
Promotion of higher education especially in professional courses leading to better
prospects of economic wellbeing of the target community.
3.32
Stress on the uplift of educationally and economically backward families of the community,
identified both as geographical and intra-community entities.
3.33
Caring for women’s education especially in courses suited to their psychology.
3.34
Promotion of intake in courses which are strategically important for the community.
3.35
Stress on courses, which can comparatively ensure better occupational future of a
beneficiary.
3.36
Selection and support to those students who would be expected to serve the community in a
better way as compared to others.
3.4 Nature and Scope
The FSC Scholarship Programme makes
provision basically for loan scholarships to meritorious students of the community for
bachelor, post-graduation and doctoral courses with the intention of recycling the
available financial inputs. However, if some of the beneficiaries feel at later stage that
they would not be able to pay back their due amount, then some deserving beneficiaries may
be exempted on the merit of their requests. Definite criteria and procedure would be
pursued for this sort of amnesty. The FSC will also run some other scholarship schemes,
which may provide financial assistance to the students ex gratia and not as scholarship
loans.
3.5 Quotas of Scholarships
3.51 By Levels of Education
According to the levels of education, the
total number of scholarships under this Programme, i. e. 150, was distributed for the
reported term in the following manner:
S. No. |
Level |
Percentage |
No. of Scholarships |
1. |
Graduation |
67% |
100 |
2. |
Post Graduation |
16.5% |
25 |
3. |
Doctoral |
16.5% |
25 |
|
|
100% |
150 |
3.52 By Home States
It has been envisaged that educational
attainment of the Muslim community in India is facing several problems in general,
however, they are more pronounced in North India. Therefore, the Programme was so designed
to focus initially on the more backward belt of the country ranging from Punjab to Assam.
The number of scholarships was geographically distributed to form state-quotas in the
following manner. The basic principle that was operative behind these quotas was to give
representation according to the population and status of literacy in a particular state.
S. No. |
State/Union Territory/Region |
State Quota |
Under Graduate |
Post Graduate |
Doctoral
Courses |
1 |
Bihar |
16 |
10 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
Chandigarh |
1 |
1 |
- |
- |
3 |
Chhatisgarh |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
Delhi |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
Haryana |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
Himachal
Pradesh |
1 |
1 |
- |
- |
7 |
Jharkhand |
16 |
10 |
3 |
3 |
8 |
Madhya
Pradesh |
6 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
NorthEastern
State |
11 |
9 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
Orissa |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
11 |
Punjab |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
Rajasthan |
9 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
13 |
Uttaranchal |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
14 |
Uttar
Pradesh |
50 |
38 |
6 |
6 |
15 |
West Bengal |
16 |
10 |
3 |
3 |
| |
Total |
150 |
100 |
25 |
25 |
3.53 By Disciplines
The FSC Scholarship Programme was also
designed to give due representation to various disciplines so that the programme may
provide a comprehensive support for the objectives of the programme. This has been a
general tendency in various communities and nations to promote technological knowledge and
skill for progress and wellbeing as a goal of their human resource development. However,
it was done simply at the peril of basic and foundational knowledge.
S. No. |
Discipline |
Allocation 2001-02 |
1 |
Science |
30 |
2 |
Medicine |
20 |
3 |
Engineering |
20 |
4 |
Social
Sciences |
40 |
5 |
Computer
Application |
20 |
6. |
Commerce |
15 |
7. |
Mass
Media |
05 |
| |
Total |
150 |
Therefore, the FSC has
decided to encourage and promote all the branches of knowledge through its Scholarship
Programme so that the community may enjoy a comprehensive and holistic development in the
long run. Furthermore, there is an explicit shift in the job market also from
technological to information, communication and management based occupations. The
community has been feeling for long, a need to promote mass media for its survival and
wholesome future. In the wake of these expressed priorities, the above six categories were
envisioned in this regard.
4. Selection
As mentioned earlier, the total number of
sanctioned scholarships for the term was 150. Out of these only 35 were fresh and in
addition to 115 of the previous term. In the light of norms prescribed by the CSP, 32
beneficiaries of the previous term faced termination of their scholarship awards at the
beginning of the session because of unsatisfactory results and disciplinary reasons; and
one candidate had completed her course. Thus, there were 68 vacancies including 33
replacements. It was decided that the replacement against the terminated scholarships
should be normally done out of the students who were in the second year of their study.
The process for selection of candidates in the year was based on these stages:
announcement, mobilisation of application forms, shortlisting, interview and final
selection.
4.1 Announcement
& Mobilisation of Applications
With the announcement of Scholarship
Programme for the reported session in July 2001 and placement of pertaining advertisements
in some identified newspapers in the last week of August 2001, requests for the
application forms started coming to the Scholarship Office. Advertisements were initially
placed in 3 Hindi and 7 Urdu dailies of North India, which were supposed to have good
readership in the target community. Moreover, personal contacts were made with the
authorities of Delhi and Aligarh-based educational institutions such as Jamia Millia
Islamia, Jamia Hamdard and Aligarh Muslim University. A supplementary drive was also
undertaken in the month of November 2001 to mobilise applications from the
under-represented states such as Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Orissa, West Bengal, Assam and North Eastern States. Advertisement of the Programme was
placed in one Bengali and one Assamese weekly for this purpose. Consequently, the total
Application Forms distributed from various centres were as follows:
1. New Delhi 216
2. Aligarh 163
3. Lucknow 28
4. Jodhpur 16
5. Kolkata 41
6. Guwahati 20
7. Miscellaneous
66 Total 550
This number is higher than the previous
year, in which the number of total distributed forms was 350. This 64% rise in the number
of aspirants illustrates the growing popularity of the Programme and effectiveness of
reaching to the aspirants.
4.2 Interviews
Interviews of the shortlisted candidates
were held as per the following details. The basic criterion set by the CSP for
shortlisting an aspirant was that he/she should have passed the qualifying examination
with first division marks, i.e. with at least 60% or equivalent marks. Thus, a number of
candidates could not be invited for respective interviews being not eligible due to one or
the other reason. The following Table illustrates that only 421 candidates out of the
total 550 applicants were shortlisted and called for interview. Out of them, 300 have
actually appeared for the interview. Local experts and eminent social workers, belonging
to the place of interview centre, took the interviews and recorded their assessments in
the prescribed formats. The President and Founder Secretary of the Foundation for Social
Care also took participation in the interviews held in New Delhi, and Aligarh, besides at
the Head Office of the FSC at Lucknow. The President introduced the activities and
S. No. |
Centre |
Date |
Called |
Interviewed |
Selected |
1. |
New
Delhi |
14-10-2001 |
185 |
183 |
26 |
2. |
Aligarh |
21-10-2001 |
27 |
39 |
13 |
3. |
Lucknow |
13-10-2001 |
26 |
14 |
4 |
4. |
Jodhpur |
2-12-2001 |
16 |
12 |
5 |
5. |
Kolkata |
15-12-2001 |
41 |
26 |
10 |
6. |
Guwahati |
9-12-2001 |
20 |
20 |
7 |
7. |
Indore |
- |
6 |
6 |
3 |
|
TOTAL |
|
421 |
300 |
68 |
programmes of the FSC to the larger
gathering of aspirants at Delhi centre. On that occasion, Maulana Ashfaq Ahmad also gave a
thought-provoking lecture on the significance of education for the community. Almost all
the participants of the interview at New Delhi were given a set of pamphlets highlighting
various aspects of Islam. The Table here above shows the actual statistics of the
interview
5.
Renewal of Scholarships
Apart
from the above new 68 selections, the renewal of current beneficiaries was also
undertaken. Consequently, out of 115 awardees, only 82 were found progressing well and one
beneficiary had reported about completion of her course. The prime criterion for the
renewal of scholarship was the scoring of at least 60% marks in the last examination,
apart from regularity in compliance with the instructions of the Scholarship Office.
Accordingly, names of 32 students were struck off from the roll of beneficiaries of the
Programme. There were only two awardees whose renewal was sanctioned in spite of their
falling short on the criterion, however, they were promoted as a special case only. One
beneficiary who was a beneficiary in the last session was allowed changing his course from
BSc to MBBS and was treated as a fresh selection
S. No. |
Centre |
Particulars |
Total |
Completion |
Renewal |
Termination |
1. |
New Delhi |
- |
35 |
15 |
50 |
2. |
Aligarh |
1 |
36 |
9 |
46 |
3. |
Lucknow |
- |
6 |
4 |
10 |
4. |
Kolkata |
- |
2 |
3 |
5 |
5. |
Guwahati |
- |
1 |
- |
1 |
6. |
Indore |
- |
- |
- |
- |
7. |
Jodhpur |
- |
2 |
1 |
3 |
|
|
1 |
82 |
32 |
115 |
. The state-wise and
discipline-wise distribution of the total beneficiaries may be referred in the Annexure-3
and 4. As shown under the title ‘Termination’, four new students have been
replaced against those students who were terminated during the course of the term.
6.
Formalities
The final list of 150 beneficiaries
including under renewal, replacement and fresh categories was approved and announced by
the Scholarship Office in the last week of November 2001. (An updated List of Scholarship
Beneficiaries may be seen in the Annexure-1). The selected candidates and those, whose
scholarships were renewed, were advised to fulfill certain formalities pertaining to their
scholarships. The fresh beneficiaries submitted their Letter of Acceptance, Agreement and
Bond and also took a pledge for the best use of the scholarship award. In case of renewal,
the beneficiaries submitted their Renewal Form. It was noticed that around a dozen
students failed to submit their Agreement and Bond even by the end of the session. It was
due to leniency of the Scholarship Office of which the students took an undue advantage.
They were served with a reminder and warning letter in the last week of June 2002. The
Scholarship Office has also developed Renewal Criteria for FSC Scholarships and the
relevant circular was sent to all the beneficiaries in January 2002 (vide Annexure-5). It
would be implemented from the current year onwards.
7. Termination
The process of termination was adopted by
the Scholarship Office to provide scholarships of the FSC to only very serious and
promising students. Major terminations were done at the beginning of the session, however,
some students were also terminated intermittently during the session. The key reasons for
the termination of scholarships were failure of the students to score at least 60 % marks,
manipulation in the testimonials submitted along with the Application Form or later on and
their lack of interest in the orientation programmes. As mentioned above, the scholarship
of 32 students were terminated at the beginning of the session (vide Annexure-6), whereas
that of the following seven were terminated during the session and out of these, four
replacements were sanctioned in favour of candidates on the waiting list. The Scholarship
Office had terminated the scholarship of some beneficiaries and replaced them by some
other better ones as per the details shown in the following Table.
S. No. |
Terminated Student |
Replaced Student |
ID No. |
Name |
Course |
Reason |
ID No. |
Name |
Course |
1. |
718 |
Ariz Malik |
BTech |
Withdrawn |
882 |
Sumbul Zehra |
BSc |
2. |
523 |
Shakilur Rahman |
MA |
Manipulation |
710 |
Huma Jalis |
MA |
3. |
654 |
M. Arshad |
BA |
Manipulation |
298 |
M. Naved Khan |
BTech |
4. |
925 |
Abdur Rahman |
BSc |
Lack of interest |
982 |
Danish A. Khan |
BE |
5. |
850 |
Ikram Ahmad |
PhD |
Withdrawn |
- |
- |
- |
6. |
348 |
Wakil A. Khan |
PhD |
Lack of interest |
- |
- |
- |
7. |
926 |
Mohd. Siraj |
BA |
Lack of interest |
- |
- |
- |
8. Orientation
8.1 Meetings of Beneficiaries
It was decided in the CSP meeting of
September 2001 that the beneficiaries should be encouraged to join specially designed
regular meetings in accordance with the demarcated centres. These meetings provided a
forum to the beneficiaries to learn, exchange and share matters pertinent for their
development and to receive their due benefits from the FSC collectively. Consequently,
several Monthly/Quarterly Meetings of Beneficiaries (MMBs/QMBs) were organised during the
reported period. The centre-wise details of the meetings may be seen in the following
Table.
S. No. |
Centre |
Nature |
No. of Students |
Particulars of Meetings |
Planned |
Held |
Average Attendance |
1. |
New Delhi |
MMB |
61 |
6 |
6 |
77 % |
2. |
Aligarh |
MMB |
49 |
6 |
6 |
63 % |
3. |
Lucknow |
QMB |
10 |
3 |
3 |
86 % |
4. |
Kolkata |
QMB |
12 |
2 |
2 |
90 % |
5. |
Guwahati |
QMB |
8 |
2 |
2 |
87 % |
6. |
Indore |
QMB |
5 |
2 |
2 |
60 % |
7. |
Jodhpur |
QMB |
5 |
2 |
2 |
46 % |
|
|
|
150 |
23 |
23 |
73 % |
An annual list of themes
was prepared and approved for these meetings. Consequently, the proceedings of most of the
meetings were carried out in the light of these themes (see Annexure-7). The Counselor of
the Scholarship Programme Mr Abdul Rashid Agwan attended most of these meetings whereas
various centre incharges were another key speakers thereof. Participation of Dr S Q R
Ilyas at New Delhi, Mr Zaheer Ahmad Siddiqui, the President of FSC and Zubair Malik at
Lucknow, Professor Shamsul Huda at Guwahati and some other experts in these meetings was
found very useful by the beneficiaries.
It is apparent from the recorded
statistics that all the 23 meetings planned during the session were held and the average
percentage of attendance in these meetings was 73, which seems quite good. It is also
obvious from the Table that the meetings of Jodhpur-based beneficiaries could not be held
satisfactorily from the viewpoint of attendance due to some personal problems of the local
incharge and in the second meeting of these students, which was summoned at the
Scholarship Office on 27 June 2002, only one out of the three current students could
attend. At the rest of places, both the MMBs and QMBs were organised with full cooperation
of the local incharges and beneficiaries.
8.2 Competitions
The Scholarship Office has announced to
hold various competitions to promote extracurricular talents of beneficiaries. In the
reported period, the competitions organised by the Scholarship Office include Quiz
Competition, Essay Competition, Slogan Competition, Summer Assignment, etc.
One of the important activity of the
Monthly and Quarterly Meetings of the Beneficiaries in the month of January 2002 was the
Quiz Competition. Out of the total awardees, 115 could participate in the competition. The
objective of the competition was to access the level of general and Islamic knowledge of
the scholarship awardees. The beneficiaries have taken very active part in the event. The
answer sheets of the competition were examined in the first week of March and the results
were made public with the completion of the cycle by the middle of April when the
remaining students of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh tried their luck in the
competition. The list of the winners may be seen in the Annexure-8.
Similarly, an Essay Competition of the
FSC scholarship beneficiaries was announced in December 2001 with the last date of
submission of the entries by 31 January 2002. The topic of the essay was "Islam and
the Future of Mankind". The students participated in this competition with great
fervour and enthusiasm. Total 107 aspirants have submitted their essays for the event. The
results of the competition were announced by the fag end of the term. The list of the
winners may be seen in the Annexure-9. So long as the two other competitions are concerned
the pertaining details may be seen under the following head "Social
Orientation.’
8.3 Social Orientation
It was one of the conscious efforts of
the Scholarship Office to develop and use interest of beneficiaries in the community
welfare programmes. Two specific activities were planned in this regard.
One of the major themes of meetings in
the term was a group discussion on the topic "My Dreamplan for Educational Uplift of
My Community." A written planning by each individual participant in a given format
followed the discussion at each centre. One of the items of the format was to give a
slogan for the respective dream project. And, for the best slogans prizes were announced.
The list of winners may be seen in the Annexure-10.
With social orientation in view, the
Scholarship Office has given Summer Assignment to the beneficiaries in May 2002. Here,
they were desired to undertake any of the given activities such as holding of meetings of
parents, non-school going children, etc. for motivation, or meetings of the students for
career orientation, or meetings of friends and family members for Islamic orientation, or
visiting the nearby mosques for taking interest in the pertaining affairs thereof and the
like. It was announced that the Scholarship Office would appreciate the best reports on
the Summer Assignment by giving due prizes. The result of this competition will announced
at the time of Annual Function of the Scholarship Programme.
8.4 Distance Education
Course
The FSC is sponsoring Distance
Education Course for the advantage of the beneficiaries in collaboration with Centre for
Studies on Science (CSOS), Aligarh. The successful candidates of the course will be
conferred with "Diploma in Islamic Science and Technology (DIST)’. The fee paid
by the FSC in this regard is Rs 1500 for each registered student. The objective of the
course is to inspire the course pursuant about the legacy of the mediaeval Muslim
scientists and thinkers and to motivate them to think afresh for the revival of mankind on
true teachings of those stalwarts.
In the previous term Lesson No. 1-4
were provided by the CSOS to 115 beneficiaries. The CSOS has initially dispatched Lesson
No. 1-16 to all the fresh students and Lesson No. 5-16 to the second year students by
April 2002. The organisation has also sent the first assignment work of the course to all
of them. It is expected that the Centre will complete its dispatch of total 50 lessons of
the course by the end of August 2002. Some of the beneficiaries who did not register
themselves for the course were reminded in February and April 2002 and most of them had
responded by the end of June 2002. Still, 20 of them could not be registered so far. Some
of them have informed that they have sent their duly filled registration forms to the
CSOS. It seems that postal disturbance is a major reason of failure in this regard.
One of the beneficiaries of the FSC
Scholarship Programme, Shohab Abdullah, a student of second year B Tech from Bhopal
University, developed an interactive software at his own for rendering these lessons of
the course very interesting to follow.
9. Defaulters’ Fund
Reward and punishment remains a long
tested method for personality development. Even God instills a spirit of action in man
through this method that is by the concept of Paradise and Hell, coinciding with human
psychology. Under the aegis of FSC Scholarship Programme, prize and penalty takes the form
of self-improvement technique and for this purpose the Defaulters’ Fund was
established in March 2002 to play a very important role in this regard. This is a unique
application so far as scholarship programmes in the country are concerned. The Scholarship
Office has laid certain norms. Various irregularities on the part of beneficiaries would
accumulate some amount of penalty against a defaulter (Annexure-11). The money collected
in this manner from some students will be given as prizes for better performance of some
other students. The defaulters will hence contribute fund for the prizes to good
performers. The total amount accrued in the Fund by the end of the term was around Rs
15,000. This amount is being collected from the respective students at the time of
meetings. It is hoped that the entire due amount will be collected by the end of August
2002. The students have suggested that a part of this money may be utilised for the
scholarship scheme for Gujarat.
10. Libraries
It was decided at the beginning of the
term to establish small libraries for the reading of beneficiaries mainly based on Islamic
literature at various centres of FSC scholarships. Catalogues of more than a dozen
publishers were collected. Moreover, the members of the CSP, incharges of centres and
other knowledgeable associates were contacted to suggest important titles for the
libraries. Their response was not satisfactory. Hence, the final list of books for the
proposed libraries could not be prepared. Moreover, due to paucity of resources, the
initiative has faced a setback in the reported term. Any way, around 30 books were
collected at the Scholarship Office during the reported time, most of them as gifts from
the associates.
11. Cyber Orientation
It was decided in the CSP meeting of
September 2001 that the beneficiaries of the FSC Scholarship Programme should be
encouraged to get adapted with the latest means of communication such as Internet. Hence,
they were advised to register their email IDs and look for regular information about the
activities of Scholarship Programme via the cyber world. Consequently, around 75 per cent
of the current beneficiaries have informed so far that they have their own email
addresses. Some selected beneficiaries had received an Eid Greeting and Newsletters on
their email addresses during the reported time.
However, the resolve to run a cyber club
of the beneficiaries at the Scholarship Office could not materialise due to dearth of
resources.
12. Reading Materials
It was decided to provide relevant
reading materials to the beneficiaries from time to time. Consequently, some of the
students were provided with the series of pamphlets on Islam published by Madhur Dandesh
Sangam. Besides, an article of Rosalie Bertell "The Earth as a Weapon in Twenty First
Century of Wars" was also distributed among the students at the time of meetings,
held during March and April 2002, in which the author has expressed her grave apprehension
on war technology in the future world. This article was taken from the esteemed magazine
‘Nation and the World’, Jan 1, 2002 Issue. Furthermore, the students were
encouraged to study some relevant reference materials, which may increase their
understanding about the contribution of mediaeval Muslim scholars. And, some of them have
reported that they could follow the instructions.
13. Newsletter
In order to inform the beneficiaries and
other concerned people regarding progress of the Scholarship Programme, the Scholarship
Office has started publication of a two-paged Newsletter of the FSC Scholarship Programme
from April 2002 onwards. So far three issues have been brought out, i. e. in April, May
and June 2002. One and all appreciated the publication and presentation of the Newsletter,
and it was found very useful in inter-linking various segments of the Programme.
14. Software Development
The CSP has decided in its meeting held
in September 2001 that the Scholarship Office should be equipped to use the latest
techniques for record keeping and data processing pertaining to the Scholarship Programme.
One ofthe decisions in this regard was to get develop an effective software for the
Programme, providing comprehensive information instantly. Due to some financial
difficulties, the same could not be developed for a long time and was completed by the end
of reported period and a trial operation of the developed software was carried out in the
last week of June 2002. Some pertinent suggestions were given to the programmer for its
further improvement. It is now almost ready for the launch and would be in full use from
the next academic year, i. e. 2002-2003. The officials of the Scholarship Office will get
required training for running the software in the month of July.
15. New Schemes of Scholarships
15.1 Sadbhavana Scholarships (SBS)
The Foundation for Social Care has
developed a special fund for communal harmony called Sadbhavana Fund. Out of this, an
amount was earmarked for giving scholarships to non-Muslim students studying at the
graduation level. The purpose of the scholarship is to develop goodwill and confidence
among the youth of various communities and to bring them closer in the national
reconstruction of the country. Consequently, five scholarships were announced in the last
week of March 2002 for the term 2001-2002. The following students were selected under this
category. The scholarships under this category are not loan scholarships but they would be
given ex-gratia. However, it has been felt that a proposal may be sent to the CMC for
making these scholarships also as loan scholarships.
S. No. |
Name |
Course |
University/Inst. |
Amount Rs |
1. |
Mritunjay
Kumar Yadvendu |
BA
Socio |
Jamia
Millia Islamia |
1000 |
2. |
Dhirendra
Kumar |
B
Pharm |
Jamia
Hamdard |
1000 |
3. |
Virendra
Pratap Singh |
B
Pharm |
Jamia
Hamdard |
1000 |
4. |
Arunima
Dutta |
B
Tech |
PCSS,
Noida |
1000 |
5. |
Jagdish
Chandra |
B
Tech |
Jamia
Millia Islamia |
1000 |
15.2 Special Scholarships for Gujarat
(SSG)
It has been planned to include Gujarat
under the purview of the FSC Scholarship Programme from the next session in the wake of
communal carnage, which has badly affected the economic prospects of the people of the
target community for at least some years. As a result, efforts are on to develop a fund
for this special scholarship scheme and it is hoped that the scheme would be launched from
the next term. The Scholarship Office has developed a brochure, for the introduction of
the scheme to interested philanthropists (see Annexure-12). By the end of the reported
period, some amount had been collected with the cooperation of FSC beneficiaries and well
wishers of the scheme. The beneficiaries have resolved to spare Rs 100 each for this
scheme apart from suggesting that a part of Defaulters’ Fund may also be utilised for
this purpose.
15.3 Special Scholarships for Orphans
(SSO)
It is not a planned scheme of the
Scholarship Office for the time being to provide scholarships under this category.
However, one special scholarship of Rs 500 per month was sanctioned in favour of Ms Salma
Rahman of Guwahati who is pursing her BA economics from Guwahati University. It was
sanctioned on a special recommendation of the Centre Incharge of Guwahati, Mr Muij Uddin
Mehmud. An associate of the FSC has assured to provide the requisite amount in this
regard.
16. Annual Function
It was initially decided to hold a
national seminar of the beneficiaries sometime during the session. However, due to paucity
of resources it was not possible. Therefore, it was agreed that an annual function of the
Scholarship Programme should be organised and all the beneficiaries of Delhi and Aligarh
and at least selected ones from distant places must be assembled for interaction on this
occasion. Consequently, the first Annual Function of the Scholarship Programme will be
organised in New Delhi on 18 August 2002. The preparation for the function was in the
initial stage by the fag end of June 2002 and would be in full swing soon. This programme
will provide an opportunity to honour the excelling students and bring common people in
contact with the Programme for their cooperation.
17. Collaboration
A need has been felt by the executors of
the Scholarship Programme for inter- organisation cooperation and coordination as regards
scholarships to meritorious students of the economically weaker families. It was attempted
to develop good relations and active contact with eminent organisations providing
scholarships to the students hailing from the community but with no avail. Dr Habibuddin
Ansari, Chairman, Islamic Thought and Science Institute, USA approached through a well
wisher of the FSC, for implementation of their scheme to arrange scholarships for the
students of science and technology in Indian universities. The intent of the FSC was sent
Dr Ansari and the matter is still in the process. The Scholarship Office will also tap
some other opportunities in the next year for inter-organisation cooperation in the field
of scholarships.
18. Academic Progress of
Beneficiaries
It is important here to make an
assessment of the academic progress of beneficiaries of the Scholarship Programme.
However, it is a bit problematic to do so at this moment because results of most of the
students who have appeared in their annual or semester examinations in May and June are
yet to be made available. Therefore, it will be possible to make any analysis of the
academic progress only by the end of August. Still, it is possible to discuss it from the
available data. In the following Table some information has been provided as regards
comparative status of the beneficiaries so long as their performance in the examination is
concerned. The discussion is based on the checklist updated by 30 June 2002 for this
purpose. (See the Annexure-12) The data will change as soon the pending results are
announced.
S. No. |
Particulars |
2000-2001 |
2001-2002 |
1. |
Average
Percentage of Marks in the Qualifying Examination |
66 |
69 |
2. |
Average
Percentage of Marks in the Last Examination |
67 |
66 |
3. |
No. of Students who have increased their marks from the
qualifying examination |
26 |
7 |
4. |
No. of Students who have scored lessor marks from the qualifying
examination |
32 |
15 |
5. |
No. of Students who have maintained their marks at par with
qualifying examination |
5 |
11 |
6. |
No. of Students who are pursuing Ph D and M Phil and hence no
marks could be shown |
17 |
8 |
7. |
No. of Students whose results of their last examination were
awaited as on 30.6.2002 |
3 |
26 |
|
Total = 150 |
83 |
67 |
A cursory look on the figures illustrated
in the above Table shows that the average percentage of the students is generally between
66-69 per cent. There is neither any significant change in the average performance of the
students from their average qualifying marks nor there is any noticeable change in the two
academic years of selection. Although it is very difficult to draw a sure inference in the
absence of marks of a large number of students in the academic year 2001-2002, but the
existing figures reveal that the number of students who could increase their marks from
their qualifying examination was 26 out of 63 in 2000-2001 whereas the same figure for
2001-2002 is 7 out of 33 students. These figures will be 31 and 18 respectively when added
with the number of students who could maintain the level of their marks.
Thus, the percentage of students, who
could enhance their level of academic performance or at least maintained the same, was 49
and 54 in the respective years. It indicates of a better prospect in the present term. The
average drop in the percentage was not much since it only went down from 69 to 66. In the
term under discussion, academically better students with average marks of 69, as compared
to 66 in the previous year, were selected but their performance has shown some problem on
the anvil of examinations. Only a full analysis of the academic performance of the
students in the current year may render it evident what the actual trend is.
According to the information available at
the Scholarship Office, around half a dozen beneficiaries are running at the top of their
respective class and may score gold medal in due course. The progress of the research
workers leading to award of Ph D or M Phil was recorded in the form of Quarterly/Biannual
Reports of their work. On an average their progress was found satisfactory. One of the
research scholar on scholarship roll, Mr Mohd. Qaisar Alam has become faculty in a reputed
institution, running coaching classes for civil services examinations, and his series of
articles were published in career guidance magazine. Furthermore, 3 beneficiaries of the
FSC have successfully cleared the prestigious test for Junior Research Fellowship of the
University Grants Commission and one that of the Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research; and thus they would be granted gorgeous scholarship for their studies.
19. A Note on Achievements and
Shortcomings
The foregoing discussion makes it evident
that the execution of the Scholarship Programme has marked several achievements and
shortcomings. The same may be enumerated here for making a note on the overall functioning
of the Programme.
19.1 Achievements
The achievements of the Programme were
as follows:
1. One major achievement of the
Scholarship Office was the further consolidation of the Programme and the reiteration of
its direction and functioning. In the previous year some problems were faced in the
execution of the Programme and their solution was one of the prime agenda of the
Scholarship Office during the entire session. It is a matter of satisfaction for all the
concerned that the situation has positively changed.
2. Appreciation of the sponsors was
another major achievement for the FSC. At the beginning of the term, they had some
specific reservations as regards the progress of the Programme. However, by the close of
the term they felt reassured pertaining to its effective management. They even sought all
the norms and procedures of the Programme for their imitation in other countries.
3. Apart from consolidating the scheme
of ‘FSC Loan Scholarships (FLS)’ there was an emerging diversification in the
services provided by the FSC under its Scholarship Programme, especially the launch of the
SBS and SSG.
4. The Scholarship Office successfully
sought wider cooperation of various individuals and organisations during the year,
especially by appointing centre incharges in different states covered by the Programme.
5. The functioning of the Scholarship
Office became more systematic in the wake of various measures taken by the FSC in general
and the CSP in particular. The procedural course and document formatting undertaken by the
Office made its information out put and data recording very effective. The development of
‘programme management software’ during the term was a step further in this
regard, although its benefits would be enjoyed only in the next term.
6. Better contact with the
beneficiaries was developed during the term as compared to the previous one. This was
especially made possible by the initiation of regular meeting of the students and closer
cooperation of the centre incharges. The publication of the Newsletter of the FSC
Scholarship Programme was also helpful in this regard.
7. As compared to the previous term
more effective measures were taken for the fulfillment of various quotas of scholarships.
A comparative view in this regard may be drawn from the relevant annexures.
19.2 Shortcomings
The major shortcomings in the
execution of the Programme were as under:
1. The term has faced a typical
financial constraint which affected execution on some decisions of the CSP and Scholarship
Office such as timely development of the programme management software, establishment of
libraries at various centres, initiation of the cyber club, etc. The problem also made
undue delay in the disbursement of scholarship drafts. Due to financial problems a badly
required generator at the Scholarship Office could not be purchased during the term,
causing frequent power failure and the consequent hampering of the performance of the
Scholarship Office in a major way. However, by the end of the reported period the
financial situation had improved to some extent.
2. Proper verification of some
application forms could not be done at the initial stage and therefore there were some
cases of manipulations in the testimonials submitted by the aspirants. When the same came
into light at a later stage, the scholarships of such students were terminated during the
term causing a sort of confusion and deprivation to some able aspirants.
3. The Scholarship Office took up the
mobilisation of application forms in the under-represented states a bit late and thus
there was an inadvertent delay in the announcement of the scholarship awards in time.
Furthermore, at least two states of the region covered by the Programme, i. e. Punjab and
Himachal Pradesh could not be represented even after these efforts.
20. Concluding Remarks
This Annual Report of the Scholarship
Programme of the Foundation for Social Care has been envisaged for a better understanding
of the functional aspects of the Scholarship Programme. It has been attempted here to
provide all the relevant information in a brief and systematic manner. The executors are
not hesitant in accepting several known and unknown lapses that would have occurred during
the reported period. However, they also deserve encouragement and appreciation of one and
tall for whatever they have achieved during the reported time by the grace of Almighty
God. May the Merciful accept their sincere efforts for educational advancement of the
community, which very much need and deserve it. Amen!
