K. Rahman Khan - Pleas for re-launching the Aligarh movement for the empowerment of the Muslims

Mr. K. Rahman Khan, Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha made a strong plea for re-launching the Aligarh movement for the empowerment of the Muslims. The movement needs to be launched with vigour in the backdrop of the Sachar Committee report, he said while inaugurating a two-day national seminar on ‘Minority Education in India: Issues of Access, Equity and Inclusion’ at Kennedy Auditorium organized by the Centre for Promotion of Educational and Cultural Advancement of Muslims of India, Aligarh Muslim University.

He urged the minority community to take new initiatives to address the vital issue of their educational backwardness. Muslims should not repeat the mistake of always seeking help from different quarters and crave for sympathy. They have to stick to the principle of self help if they want to change their destiny.

He also urged the Muslims to draw an agenda for the next ten years to attain self-reliance in education and serve the country through education. Muslims should plan to establish at least one University in each state in the next ten years. They should also plan towards achieving excellence in our educational institutions.

He also suggested establishing a large network of secondary schools of excellence in addition to the Government schools, i.e., at least one school for every 10,000 families. We should plan and establish skill development centers, polytechnics and technical institutions all over the country.

Mr. Khan pointed out that the Muslim community in India is not helpless. We have the resources, we have the abilities and expertise, what we lack is unity. The Muslim Community is a vibrant community and hardworking and contributing significantly for the country’s GDP growth and its contribution to GDP saving is around 10% of the total GDP savings of the country, which will be around 33 billion USD.

Confederation of Muslim Educational Institutions of India (CMEII)

CMEII established in 2005, is committed to sustainable improvement of educational conditions of minority communities. It is a manifestation of the log-felt need for a coherent approach to address the problems of educational backwardness of deprived sections of the society. CMEII caters to serve as a common platform to address the problems faced by minority educational institutions. The aims and objectives of CEMII are summarized below:

1. Arranging and forming partnership for knowledge industry.
2. Act as a legal interface on behalf of member organisations and do legal intervention wherever and whenever necessary.
3. Facilitating FDI for qualitative promotion of knowledge industry at affordable cost.
4. Establish linkage with organizations in the field of minority education both in India and abroad.
5. Build partnership with the objective of development of educational aspects of members of CEMII.
6. Forge alliance with civil society groups to ensure the rights of members of CEMII are protected and promoted.
7. Assist in experience sharing in the field of education (Knowledge Industry) and encourage collaboration.
8. Empower people's representatives and opinion makes to present the views to obtain the rights of minority educational institutions.
9. Provide a common platform for Information, Education and Communication programs (IEC) and Advocacy for members.
10. Coordinate the efforts for achieving the rights of minority groups in the field of education and promotion backward integration with mainstream in the field of education.
11. Work to ensure transparency of government policies and programs for minority educational institutions.