FOLLOWING A cut in student intake that led to protests three years ago and an admissions cycle delayed by the pandemic, the Haj Committee of India has “temporarily closed” its residential coaching institute for civil services aspirants in Mumbai.
The institute for Muslim students, which was being run at Haj House, has been “empty” since December 2023, and admission tests were not conducted this year, sources associated with the programme told The Indian Express. These tests are typically held every July.
When contacted, Leyaqat Ali Aafaqui, an IRS officer who serves as the Haj Committee’s CEO, said that admissions for this year have been suspended. “The institute is temporarily closed as we are formulating a new policy. I am working to restart the facility soon,” Aafaqui said, declining to provide more details about the decision.
Union Minister of Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju, under whose ministry the Haj Committee operates, did not comment.
“Normally, the notification for every academic session is released by April. The admissions exam takes place in July, and there is clarity on the selection list by late August. But this year, there has been no update. The institute is no longer mentioned on the HCOI’s website, which used to provide updates for aspirants earlier,” said a Mumbai-based civil services aspirant who was hoping to undergo coaching at the centre. The Indian Express did not find any link to this programme on the Haj committee’s official website.
The institute was established in 2009 to provide affordable residential coaching to Muslim students — the only one of its kind run by the Haj committee. Since then, sources said, about 1,500 students have undergone coaching here with 25 of them getting selected by the UPSC for the civil services. “Expenditure for the institute used to vary from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 50 lakh every year. It was being run on donations by individuals going for Haj pilgrimage…,” a retired Haj House official said.
Former students said Covid severely impacted the institute’s admission cycle, with delays affecting the 2021 batch. Sources said that for the 2022-23 batch, the Haj panel released a list of 100 candidates in October 2022. “These students remained at the institute until December 2023,” they said.
According to former students, the institute initially had a capacity of 50 students, which was increased to 200 by 2017. However, they said, this changed in 2021.
“The mess subsidy was cancelled. Then, the intake capacity was cut to 50 students. This was later increased to 100 after protests by aspirants,” a former student said.
The Indian Express had reported in June 2023 that four former students of the institute had cleared the UPSC that year. All four had left the institute the previous year due to the reduced intake.
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