NEW DELHI: A day after Jamia Millia Islamia University (JMI) remained in the news for removing Thiruvananthapuram - the only centre in South India from its list of entrance test centres, Varsity's VC Professor Mazhar Asif said that Calicut- a city in Kerala has been added to the list.
Removal of the centre from the options invited major criticism from many students on social media platforms. Instead, the university added two test centres in north and central India.
Last year, entrance test centres included Delhi, Lucknow, Guwahati, Patna, Kolkata, Srinagar, and Thiruvananthapuram. Calicut used to be one of the centres of Jamia till 2020 but it was later changed to Thiruvananthapuram from 2021 onwards.
Reacting to this, the Rajya Sabha MP Haris Beeran on Friday wrote to the Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia stating, “I would like to bring to your attention a matter of urgent concern regarding the removal of the Thiruvananthapuram entrance examination centre from the list of multi-city centres for the Jamia Millia Islamia entrance examinations for the academic year 2025-26.”
Beeran further added, “For several years, JMI has provided an entrance test centre in Kerala, either in Thiruvananthapuram or Calicut, facilitating students from the state to appear for examinations without excessive financial and logistical burdens. However, with the removal of this centre from the prospectus this year, over 2000 students from Kerala who intended to apply for various programs at JMI are now left in distress.”
The letter also highlighted how the removal will impose significant challenges, including the requirement for students to travel to distant centres, incurring substantial expenses on travel, accommodation, and food and secondly, the loss of valuable preparation time, as travel to and from alternative centres could take up to four days.
Taking to social media, Shashi Tharoor had also pointed out on X, “Jamia Millia Islamia University (JMI) has removed Thiruvananthapuram from its list of entrance test centres. And it was the only such centre in south India! The city, moreover, witnessed at least 550 students taking the exams. An inexplicable decision: has @jmiu_official decided it doesn’t want south Indian students?”
In 2023, JMI courted controversy when the university removed Srinagar as a centre. JMI then claimed that the Srinagar centre was not removed for all courses but had to be cancelled for some programs as the number of applicants was fewer than 50.
However, several students alleged that they were getting Delhi as the only option when filling out application forms online for admission to most undergraduate, postgraduate, and PhD programmes.