No placement cell for Mass Communication department, But why?

It is the common grievances of all the students of Mass Communication Department here at AMU and recently during such a visit by the Hon'ble Vice Chancellor, such question was put forward by M.A(Prev.) students Mohd Adil Siddiqui & Mohammad Jadeed that why AMU doesn't conduct campus placement for the students of this department. The answer was avoided. I think this is not an answer that "not-so-famous" universities need placement cell and not like an reputed university of such stature like AMU. This is the age of competition and education is very much job oriented. When famous institution like IIT's or top universities of the world organizes job fair or investing millions in their Placement cell this is deplorable that AMU Authorities are taking the matter of placement for such an important Professional Course so carelessly.

Whatever AMU Mass Comm students has achieved it is due to their personal effort. Students will always try their best to find a job to bring smile on the faces of their parents, family etc- thats natural.But AMU? If AMU do not cope with time and ignore its professional responsibilities and do not implement advance agendas for students soon the reputation of such programmes( i.e Mass Communication) will be at stake.

Today AMU should learn from newly established Universities like MANUU who are boastfully conducting such placement programme and taking the onus upon themselves of sending their students in the reputed media agencies.

Mass Communication is an important subject and today we need more media persons of our community at the helm of affairs. We know its all about the business of news which shape the politics of the country.

I propose there should be a Central Placement Cell for the Faculty of Social Science which shall cater to the students of Mass Communication, MSW and other courses.

Today students of Mass Communication of AMU need hope from the side of the AMU administration and expect that they shall work for our welfare. Probably tomorrow we can stop other Adil Siddiqui and Jadeed from questioning and getting disappointed.

( We friends among ourself often vent out this frustration)

Denying democratic rights of AMU Students

I wish to congratulate all the new elected members of the AMU Court and expect that they would work hard towards the betterment of the Aligarh Muslim University. I also wish to curse those people who are trying to vitiate the “academic atmosphere (I am confused about how! What’s their modus operandi? Is it democratic or undemocratic? If democratic then whether it really vitiates or not? If vitiates then how come democracy is a virtue and always welcomed in the AMU’s official parlance? Oh! I am getting confused again)” of my beloved Alma mater. They must be shown the door else we will be doomed.

Being at my native place in Bengal now, lost in the idyllic milieu of the rural sceneries, feeling the last chill of winter and merrily reciting Shelley’s “If winter comes can spring be far behind” couplet, I can also imagine the rejoice of those “mature people” of administration or those from outside it in the practicing of their democratic rights and electing not selecting of people of their choice. So I believe all must know the contentment of election over selection among any voter. They also feel the same thrill in their blood seeing people of their choice mentioned in the same couplet by Shelley, “If winter (he/she) comes can spring (my/our benefit) be far behind”? But rarely any intellectual or sympathizer to AMU and its students mentioned about the representation of them in the AMU Court at any place in the recent times.

Ohh leave them! They are the immature, innocent looking faces with simple nature who don’t and should not know about the world, already bowed down by many pressures around. What they have to do with complicated things like Court and Academic Council? Do one thing! Gift them toy of a Grievance Committee instead, a very simple thing with no written rules like of AMU Court and AC. Yes this is ‘the democracy’ for you boys and girls! It’s completely made by us, the “mature minds” of the AMU who won’t ever allow polluting your mind with all this by the Insiders, Outsiders and so many siders lurking around at AMU only. Many can buy this idea, I can’t.

I think the time has come when students should be given their legitimate representation at the AMU Court and Academic Council to uphold the same democratic value AMU administration is talking about now to give the“new members” the same chance like other existing Court Members of electing the top post of Chancellor, Pro-Chancellor and others. And its not covered by Lyngdoh Committee recommendations also that administration hands are tied.

Whether an institution should have Students Union or not or what’s positive or negative influence at AMU or its legal validity, for this moment I don’t want to discuss that. However, I want one people to stand and argue that election of student representative at the AMU Court or Academic Council can hamper “peaceful academic atmosphere”. The AMU Act, 1981 put this obligation on the Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor as his Power and Dutiesin the Statute 3(2), “It shall be the duty of the Vice-Chancellor to see that the Act, the Statutes, the Ordinances and the Regulations are duly observed, and he shall have all powers necessary to ensure such observance.” And AMU administration has been asked to give students mandatory representation at the AMU Court and Academic Council under the (Statute 14 (1) (xxx) (b)) & (Statute 18 (1) (xv)) respectively. (Source- AMU official website http://www.amu.ac.in/rsection/ShowCircularNotice.jsp?tp=Council ).

Now this is the responsibility of the AMU Court and respective Vice-Chancellor to be self-righteous and committed to protect the sanctity of the AMU Act because as an autonomous body nobody can check it except itself. I don’t know even why Former Vice-Chancellor Janab Naseem Ahmad did not conduct Academic Council elections for students when he restored AMUSU and elected student representative of AMU Court which is I think very important statutory body.

I was looking at the AMU Ordinances (Executive) and specially Chapter XV & Chapter XV (A) which give systematic procedure for the election of the students’ representative at the AMU Court and AC. And one must feel certain that if the Eligibility Criteria for students contesting the Court and AC are observed fully in compliance to the “Eligibility Criteria for contesting AC election mentioned in Section 2 of Chapter XV (A)”(I request Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor Sir to make the same for AMU Court also) only good students will enter in such statutory bodies.

I request the readers to read it and comment whether all student elections at AMU should be held by this Ordinances or not which I support to have a clean vibrant democratic student body. I sometime don’t understand, even when every rules and regulations are already there which is as strict as Lyngdoh Committee ones then why this ignorance from the side of AMU administration to use it?

Source-http://www.amu.ac.in/rsection/9977.pdf

Chapter XV(A) of AMU Ordinances(Executive)

2. Only a student eligible to vote under Clause (1)

shall be eligible to be a candidate for election.

Provided that no student, though otherwise eligible to

be a candidate can be elected to membership of the Academic

Council if :-

(a) he has failed to complete the whole course to

which he may at any time have been admitted at

this University or any other University, within

period prescribed for that course; or

(b) he has failed to clear or complete part of a course

that he is currently admitted to within the

minimum period prescribed for that part of the

course by the Ordinances (Academic); or

(c) he has been judged guilty of indicipline or gross

misconduct and has been expelled from the rolls

of the University for a period of six months or

more for the offence; or

(d) there is a break exceeding one academic year

between the course last completed by him at

this University or any other University and the

next course to which he has been admitted; or

(e) the period for which he has been a regular

studnet of this University (Excluding Pre-

University/Senior Secondary Course) exceeds 8

years; or

(f) he is in the service of the University or any other

Government or Statutory body notwithstanding

that he is on leave.

(* E. C. Res. No. 57 dated 19. 04. 1986)

After knowing all this , sheer ignorance and the eagerness to snatch the democratic right from the students to send their representative at the AMU Court and Academic Council can only be termed as “Unfortunate”. Students are really unlucky and have enough reason to be felt grieved.

If people from the Supreme Governing Body of AMU and our Chief Executive Officer are not eager to follow the AMU Act then who will?

The time has come to be honest to our job.

Illegal Hall Dues charged by the Sulaiman Hall Administration

These days exams are going on in full swing. I often visit the Sulaiman Hall Canteen to have a cup of tea and a French( Fren Tost pronounced by the workers there) Toast to take a break from my studies.

Recently I met this guy from the Faculty of Engineering Syed Md. Jawed Husain, B.Tech II, of En No-GC7049 at the same place who was ruminating about something which literally shocked me to the core. I asked myself, is this possible? Has the Hall Administration forgotten all its power and duties? If in such way Hall Administration at AMU would deal with the students then it may always led to another Bab-E-Syed revolt.

As told me by Jawed, when he applied for the Central Minority Scholarship last year he was not receiving any other scholarship at that moment. However when Rs.19,702 was sanctioned to him this year from Central Minority Scholarship Programme at that moment he has already been awarded Sultana Jahan Scholarship( Washington D.C) of Rs.5000 and Krishna Engineering Schoolarship Rs.3000.

So the Scholarship advisor wrote in his Scholarship claim paper to surrender both the last two scholarships in order to receive the Central Minority Scholarship he has already been awarded.

As the Office of the Provost also send a copy of Hall Dues imposed upon any student if any Hall Fees remain, as the Scholarship Section get it subtracted from the Scholarship the student receiving that moment. So Sulaiman Hall administration claimed in the performa that this student is not receiving any Scholarship at that moment but have his due Hall Fees of a vast amount of Rs.8000 that he has to submit before Semester exam.

Now the interesting point is that the Hall Administration has filled the column of Hall Amenities with the Fee Amount Rs. 7000( against the Rs.70 fixed by AMU authority) and C&G/RR as Rs.1000( against Rs.35 fixed by AMU authority) and also we can see they were going to charge the student Rs.3000 more as Unforeseen but later stepped back( cutting marks we can see).

Now the basic question is this whatever the case is there-

Whether the Provost has any authority to charge any student Hall Amenities Fee or C&G/RR Fee of his choice rather than what is fixed by the University itself?

As per my experience I know, even the Vice-Chancellor, Aligarh Muslim University cant increase this Hall Amenities from Rs.70 to Rs.71 without the approval of Admission Committee or Academic Council or unless the use of special power attributed to him under 19(3) on behalf of the AC. So there is least doubt about the fact that this act by the Sulaiman Hall administration is an illegal one and overlooking such gross misconduct on their part would led to a bad precedent for other Hall administration.

Therefore, I earnestly request the AMU authority to put an inquiry to find out how many such cases happened in AMU where Hall Administration did such illegal act and harassed innocent students and give exemplary punishment to the persons who are behind such violation of the AMU laid Rules and Regulation.

Justice should not be compromised at any cost.