M. A. Siraj
Bengaluru: The UPSC results were declared on Tuesday (August 4) and 829 candidates were selected for the top civil services across the nation. Of the 829 successful, 44 are stated to be Muslims. Reports have however put the figure of successful Muslim candidates between 42 and 45. Of the total, 180 will be joining the Indian Administrative Services (IAS); 24 will be going for Indian Foreign Services (IFS) and 150 will be taken into the Indian Police Service (IPS).
The Residential Coaching Academy (RCA) under the Jamia Millia Islamia has claimed that 30 of its candidates were successful. Fourteen of them are Muslims. Twenty five of them were residing at the Academy while another five received the coaching while residing outside the campus. The Zakat Foundation of India has claimed that 27 candidates were successful. Of these 23 are Muslims. Six candidates coached by the Jamia Hamdard are among the successful ones. Of these two are Muslims. Last year, there were 28 Muslims among the 759 successful candidates.
However, the results are disappointing from the angle of toppers. Only a single Muslim candidate, Safna Nazruddeen from Kerala has been awarded 45th rank. There is no other Muslim candidate among the top hundred. Jamia press released claimed that out of the 30 of its selected candidates, six are expected to get IAS, eight are likely to get IPS and remaining candidates will get IRS, Audit & Account services, IRTS and other allied services of Group-A. Six of the 30 candidates are girls. The RCA’s performance has dipped this year. Last year Junaid Ahmed emerged as the third rank-holder in the UPSC competitive exams. The RCA has so far produced 230 civil servants for the topmost bureaucracy. Besides, 285 of its trained candidates have been selected for various other Central and State Government services such as Reserve Bank of India, scheduled banks, Jammu & Kashmir State services etc.
The Muslim representation took a dip in 2018 when only 29 Muslims figured among 759 successful candidates. In 2017, there were 44 Muslims among 990 cleared for the services. It was in 2016 that the representation began showing upward trend with success of 50 Muslim candidates that year. Of the 50, ten figured among the top hundred. Since then the proportion of Muslims in the UPSC exams has hovered around 5%, a twofold increase from 2.5% for several decades. This is owing to concerted efforts by some institutions, notably Jamia Millia Islamia’s RCA, Zakat Foundation of India, Jamia Hamdard and the Central Haj Committee, Mumbai. However, majority of the successful Muslims this year are from southern States, although 60% of India’s Muslims live in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam (and their splinter states). This is where attention needs to be focused and efforts should be taken to improve standard of coaching in schools and colleges where the majority of Muslim students head.
Among the successful candidates is Dr. Asrar Ahmed Kichloo, a 27-year old doctor from Dodda district of Jammu. He is one among the 14 who cracked the Civil Services exam this year from the State. He completed his MBBS from GMC in Jammu. He is son of a Veterinarian mother and a father who is a retired official from the Animal Husbandry Department in the State.
Kichloo told the media that he decided to go for Civil Services after he saw a man from a rural area in Jammu had applied cowdung on his wounds. He found to his horror that patients in rural areas in the State had to travel 24 hours to reach the doorsteps of a hospital and therefore resort to superstitious practices or approach quacks. Incidentally, a Muslim girl, Nadia Beig also figures among those who were successful from the State. Nadia hails from Ramhal village in Kupwara district of the State. At 23, she is the youngest to crack the UPSC. An Economics Honours graduate from Jamia Millia, Nadia had tried for the Civil Services for the second time. She took coaching at the RCA.
List of successful Muslim candidates for UPSC Result-2019
| S. No. | Name | Rank |
| 1 | Safna Nazarudeen | 45 |
| 2 | Shaikh Mohd Zaib Zakir | 153 |
| 3 | Jithin Rahman | 176 |
| 4 | Rumaiza Fathima R V | 185 |
| 5 | Nongjai Mohd Ali Akram Shah | 188 |
| 6 | Samir Ahmad | 193 |
| 7 | Suthan Abdullah | 209 |
| 8 | Sofia* | 241 |
| 9 | Asrar Ahmad Kichloo | 248 |
| 10 | Noorul Quamer | 252 |
| 11 | Ajmal Shahzad Aliyar Rawther | 254 |
| 12 | Farman Ahmad Khan | 258 |
| 13 | Mohd Shafiq | 292 |
| 14 | Sufiyan Ahmed | 303 |
| 15 | Azharuddin Zahiruddin Quazi | 315 |
| 16 | Asif Yousuf Tantray | 328 |
| 17 | Ahmad Belal Anwar | 332 |
| 18 | Nadia Beig | 350 |
| 19 | Ashik Ali P I | 367 |
| 20 | S Mohammed Yakub | 385 |
| 21 | Shahul Hameed A | 388 |
| 22 | Shaheen C | 396 |
| 23 | Md Shabbir Alam | 403 |
| 24 | Aftab Rasool | 412 |
| 25 | Shiyaz K M | 422 |
| 26 | Ahamed Ashik O S | 460 |
| 27 | Mohammad Nadeemuddin | 461 |
| 28 | Syed Zahed Ali | 476 |
| 29 | Mohammed Danish K | 487 |
| 30 | Md Qamaruddin Khan | 511 |
| 31 | Maaz Akhter | 529 |
| 32 | Hassan Usaid N A | 542 |
| 33 | Mohammad Aaquib | 579 |
| 34 | Rehan Khatri | 596 |
| 35 | C Sameer Raja* | 603 |
| 36 | Faisal Khan | 611 |
| 37 | Saifullah | 623 |
| 38 | Sabzar Ahmad Ganie | 628 |
| 39 | Majid Iqbal Khan | 638 |
| 40 | Firoj Alam | 645 |
| 41 | Ruheena Tufail Khan | 718 |
| 42 | Rayeas Hussain | 747 |
| 43 | Mohammed Nawas Sharaf Uddin | 778 |
| 44 | Shaik Shoeb | 823 |
| 45 | Syed Junaid Aadil |
M.A. Siraj is a senior journalist based in Bengaluru