3:07 AM

HWfF LAUNCHED lMEDICAL SERVICE SOCIETY OF INDIA (MSS) AT MUMBAI



New Delhi : The Human Welfare Foundation (HWF) launched a Medical Service Society as a part of its Vision 2016 Programme which targets the multi-faceted development of the downtrodden sections of the society. The Society named MEDICAL SERVICE SOCIETY OF INDIA (MSS) is established to work in the field of Healthcare in a professional manner. The inaugural function was held at Hotel Sahil, Mumbai and was attended by various important figures from the doctor’s community. Doctors from various parts of the country discussed the Healthcare situation and facilities in the country and also deliberated upon various immediate and long-term measures to improve the condition. Prof. K. A. Siddique Hassan, General Secretary of the Human Welfare Foundation introduced the Vision 2016 programme and its role in the upliftment of the neglected sections of the society. He said that we are about to complete the first phase of our work in the fields of Education, Healthcare, Employment Assistance and other areas of Social service. The National Executive Committee of MSS was formed on this occasion and Dr. Taha Mateen of Bangalore was elected as its president, Dr. Moti Lal of Delhi and Dr. Muhammad Hussain of Jaipur as its Vice-Presidents and Dr. Saiju Hameed of Kerala as its General Secretary. Apart from the office bearers, Dr. Nisar Mukri, Dr. Iftekhar Malik, Dr. Syed Nauman, Dr. Shamsul Alam, Dr. Muhammad Azhar Beg Mirza, Dr. M. Abdul Baseer and Dr. Asadullah were elected as the members of the National Executive Committee. Dr. Anand Somaya graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Dr. A. R. Undre, Dr. Kamran, Mr. Abdul Jabbar Siddiqui, Director Human Welfare Foundation and Mr. Nazar Madoo, President Jamaat-e-Islami Maharashtra Zone were among the prominent guests in this programme.

3:55 AM

HWF felicitated 735 Meritorious Muslim students of U.P








New Delhi:Human Welfare Foundation felicitated 750 meritorious students of Muslim community of Uttar Pradesh State, who scored 60% & above marks in their board Examination for the academic session 2008-09 in an Award giving function held at Hari Lawn, Ashok Marg, Lucknow. Academic Excellence Award – 2009 U.P. is an initiative of Human Welfare Foundation, New Delhi, and P M Foundation, Kerela. These "Awards for Academic Excellence - 2009 (UP)" are meant to encourage the students to continue performing better in future. It is to motivate the minority students for performing excellently in their academic studies. It is to be noted that the Higher Secondary Examination Results of Muslim Community in the state has been on the poor side during the recent years. The awardees were given cash prizes and citations, where as the schools were also ranked according to their performances in last three academic sessions. A total of 10 schools were felicitated on this occasion and were given mementos and citation.

Shri S. M. A. Kazmi, chairman, Minority Commission of Uttar Pradesh state graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and congratulated the awardees for their achievement. Addressing the students and their parents, Prof. K.A.Siddiq Hassan, General Secretary of HWF and the architect of vision 2016 programme said “IT IS THE DAY OF SUCCESS” and emphasized the role of education in the development of our country. Therefore, we are making every effort to improve the quality of life of the neglected sections of this society through the Vision 2016 programme, he said.

The programme started with the inaugural words by Justice K. A. Abdul Gafoor, Chairman, P.M. Foundation, Kerela. He said that the PM Foundation started this project in kerela twenty three years back with just 100 students who secured 0% and above marks, which is now reached to 836 students securing more than 90% marks in the 23rd Award Distribution Programme and we expect the same here in Uttar Pradesh also. The function was presided over by the foundation’s Vice president, Mr. Muhammad Jafar. He congratulated the awardees and said that this award will be a milestone in your life and urged them to perform better and better, so as to compete with this extremely competitive world. A number of other dignitaries such as UP State Information Commissioner, Mr. Virendar Kumar Saxena, Maulan Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahli, Naib Imam, Idgah Lucknow, Mr. N. M. Sharfuddin, Trustee, P M Foundation, Mr. C. P. Kunju Muhammad, Trustee, P M Foundation, Mr. Manzoor Ahmed, Ex-IPS, Former Vice-Chancellor, Agra University and Trustee HWF, and Maulana Waliullah Saeedi Falahi, President Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, UP East, addressed the awardees and their parents. Mr. Muhammad Ahmad, Chairman Uttar Pradesh Falah-e-Aam Society and Ameer, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Uttar Pradesh (West) welcomed the distinguished guests, awardees and their parents. This programme was organized in association with P M Foundation, U P Falah-e-Aam Society and Students Islamic Organisation of India.

3:39 AM

Interview with Siddique Hasan: Architect of JIH’s vision 2016


Prof Siddique Hassan, Naib Ameer (vice president) of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, a college professor and former head of JIH’s Kerala unit is credited with undertaking some big projects and making them success. No example can be better than Madhyamam, a daily newspaper published by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind in Kerala and Gulf. It has more than a dozen editions being published from Kerala and Gulf simultaneously. Now he heads JIH’s mammoth social welfare project Vision 2016 that aims to positively transform lives of the underprivileged sections of the Indian societyIn an interview Prof Siddique Hassan, speaks extensively on the project Vision 2016, a mammoth multi billion rupees project, its progress and the challenges ahead. Excerpts:

Q: What is Vision 2016 all about?

A: Vision 2016 is an ambitious plan envisaged for the development and upliftment of the deprived sections of our society that includes Muslims and Dalits. Lasting for period of ten years, the project has identified education, health, employment, women empowerment, and microfinance as its chief focus areas. The schemes and projects run by various institutions and agencies are supervised by an umbrella organization, Human Welfare Foundation. In the first phase, Muslims of the selected 58 poor districts are going to benefit from the project.
Projects under ‘education’, for instance, include capacity enhancement of existing schools, setting up new primary and secondary schools, special girls’ schools, vocational training centers, coaching and guiding centers, providing merit-cum-means scholarships, etc. Similarly various projects for other areas like healthcare are in the making.

Q: What has prompted Jamaat-e-Islami to venture into such a big social work project, instead of confining to conventional religious activities?

A: Being an Islamic Movement in the true sense of the term, Jamaat-e-Islami has never ignored social work. Nor is it a conventional Muslim organization. The ever worsening scenario of backwardness in India has always been a concern for Jamaat. India is a country where 33 per cent of the population still lives under the BPL (Below Poverty Line) and 40 per cent of its people remain illiterate. When it comes to the condition of the Muslim community in India, the picture is worse. The Sacchar Committee Report has categorically stated that the Muslim in the country live under conditions worse than that of Dalits. Poverty is so extreme in some regions that many Muslims quit their religion just for a morsel of meal

.Q: Which are the areas of the project where progress has been made so far and how much?

A: The project is in the initial stage but is progressing. In the field of education, remarkable achievements have been made. We’ve planned to set up 100 schools by 2011 in various districts of North Indian states which are relatively more backward than the South Indian districts. Work of 25 of these schools has already finished and lands have been acquired for the rest of the schools. Scholarships worth 50 lakh rupees have been given away to those backward students who have secured 60 per cent marks in their standard ten examinations.In the field of health, we plan to establish hospitals and clinics, mobile medical vans, etc and to provide medical aid to the needy. For the supervision of these activities, we’ve already formed Medical Society of India which is a common platform for doctors and paramedical staffs committed to our cause.

Q: You’ve mentioned the fields of legal aid and microfinance. What have you been able to do in these fields?

A: We’ve recently formed Association for the Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) bringing into its fold, social activists, advocates, and dedicated social workers. APCR aims to defend the rights of the underprivileged people. It organizes training workshops and awareness programmes on human rights and investigates cases of human rights violations. Taking up various issues related to judiciary and law, with a view to bringing about meaningful and timely reforms in the criminal justice system of the country also comes under APCR’s purview. Also, APCR has published a very useful guidebook to educate the human rights activists on the legal and ethical aspects of the service they are involved in.As for microfinance, the microfinancing enterprises we are going to have will be purely interest-free. We’ve recently conducted a four-day workshop in Hyderabad to deliberate on the practical details of implementing microfinancing in which experts from different part s of the country took part. An NGO for working with microfinancing is in the pipeline.

Q: When you came up with such a mammoth project that runs into hundreds of crores, what was the response you got from various corners like other Muslim organizations and leaders?

A: I would say we got good response from the community leaders and organization. I want to tell you that whenever Jamaat-e-Islami took an initiative for any good project or programme, other Muslim organizations have responded positively. We have not come across a situation when Muslim organizations and leaders outrightly rejected any suggestion put forward by Jamaat-e-Islami. Everyone seems to be aware of the need of making collective endeavours towards the upliftment of the community

.Q: Coming to the more practical aspects, do you think the Jamaat has the expertise to undertake and successfully complete such a huge project?

A: No, Jamaat-e-Islami is under no illusion that Jamaat and its cadre alone can accomplish all these targets. In fact, we are trying to engage experienced NGOs along with its cadre, in the micro-planning and execution of each of these schemes and projects

.Q: Given the fact that several institutions in North India run by Jamaat do not fare well owing to lack of professionalism , are you sure the Jamaat cadres are competent in running schools, vocational training institutes, hospitals ,etc efficiently?

A: I want to underscore the fact that the Vision 2016 is not a Jamaat-only project. We have a high regard for professionalism and will ensure all the steps taken are foolproof. We seek the help of various consultants who have put in many years of experience in relevant fields. And we are not alone. We’ve about 50 affiliates who are known for their expertise in different areas. As for the role of Jamaat cadre, those who are really devoted to the cause have been chosen and given special training.
Q: How was your experience in getting the right people to work for the project?

A: Now the project is going through its implementation-stage. In the initial stage we’re mainly concerned with development of infrastructural and logistic support on which the further pursuit of the project highly depends. In this effort we’ve had many experiences and getting the right people was really a tough job in some areas. However, it must be said that the experience on the whole was satisfactory.

Q: Your brochure says you are going to spend Rs 377 million within four years (from 2007-2011). How do you think you’ll overcome probable pitfalls like mismanagement of funds and other irregularities?

A: We’re aware of the fact these facts. One thing I’d like to clarify is that this is not a set of projects for which Jamaat accumulates funds from various sources and then distributes them to agencies. There are proper checks and balances to ensure maximum transparency and accountability. For example, every transaction has to be approved by auditors.Another thing that needs to be clarified is that a major part of the programmes in Vision 2016 is to enable the underprivileged people to avail themselves of all the developmental schemes sponsored by the central and state governments. It’s a known fact many governmental schemes for the deprived are being implemented and then trampled by the bureaucracy, with main targets of these schemes remaining unaware of them. The same can be said about various projects aimed at the minorities.In order to create awareness among the needy people of legitimate ways to tap the available resources for their prosperity, we’ve published a handbook, ‘A Guide to the Uplift Minorities’. The handbook, which will soon be published in all regional languages, contains information regarding various governmental and non-governmental schemes and for different groups of people and needs. This guide, we believe, is of high value and help to the common man as well as social workers