The first woman vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University, Najma Akhtar opens up on her priorities and her vision to make the iconic campus stand out in a league of top global institutes of academic excellence in a freewheeling conversation with Mudita Girotra;
How does it feel to be appointed the first woman Vice Chancellor of this iconic university?
Jamia is a minority institute, as our Constitution allows the minority community to have their own academic institutions and run them in the best way possible. However, I was appointed on merit and it wasn’t aimed at sending a message of inclusivity and gender parity to a particular community.
How do you react to stereotypes associated with women holding powerful positions?
The labels or stereotypes attached to women in power come from those with a regressive mentality. Their mentality isn’t my problem. It isn’t unusual for a woman to be at the helm of affairs.
However, I do acknowledge that I stand out in so far as I am the first ever woman to be appointed vice chancellor of a central university in the country.
It’s good that a woman was deemed capable of being appointed the vice-chancellor of a central university. The appointment to this post is made by the President. It goes to show that the government wants more women holding powerful positions.
What do you have to say about the expectations on you? You said you want to break many glass ceilings going forward. What did you mean?
I realise that whoever comes in as the new vice-chancellor as plenty of hopes riding on him/her. There are many expectations from me as well.
I have already said that as the first woman V-C, I will focus on implementing my plans for girls who come to study. But I will also help our boys realise their true potential during my tenure. While I’m not here to work only for the girls, my being here will give them more confidence when it comes to attaining their lofty goals.
I want them to dream. I want them to know that I could reach where I am today, so can they. I believe that the confidence drawn by our girls from my presence would also rub off on those not studying here. I feel my presence will give them hope. The glass ceiling was broken when I was shortlisted among the top three contenders for the job from a pool of 250 candidates. Both the other contenders were men. I am grateful to the government and the President for taking a bold step entrusting me with this job.
What are your top priorities?
For starters, the admission system here is being made more transparent. Since I have administrative experience in matters of examination and admission; I will work to make them more transparent and timely and will make sure that the admissions are over without any fuss. Though ours is a minority institution, we should open our doors to students across diverse social, cultural and religious backgrounds. That’s why we hold our entrance tests across the country.
So what are you doing to attract more students from other parts of the country?
We want to draw students from across the country. I have made that clear even during my addresses. We conduct entrance tests in the northeast as well. We don’t have enough hostels and I’m trying to have some more built on our campus. I’m trying to accommodate as many of our girls as I can in our hostels, as it is tough for them to staying outside the campus. We have even appealed for funds for this purpose. We have even approached many embassies for funds, as we have a lot of foreign students. This year, we have about 200 to 300 more foreign students in comparison to the previous year.
Any plans of opening a campus outside Delhi?
Not as of now. First, this campus should be consolidated. Additional campuses are good, but they don’t have the same quality as the main campus. Also, we don’t have enough space here. We can have other campus wherever we find the required land in Delhi. More campuses would help in our endeavour to implement our new ideas.
How is your effort to open a medical college on campus coming along?
Jamia has had a plan to set up a medical college on its campus for a long time and I thought I should take it up The medical college will be located on a piece of land that we are yet to acquire. Wherever we find new space, we will shift our whole health campus there.