Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) hosted UPSC Mela 2.0 in New Delhi last week, drawing over 1,150 students and civil services aspirants from JMI and universities across Delhi and other cities. The event offered structured guidance on Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Examination preparation and, notably, placed disability inclusion at the centre of the conversation around competitive exam access.

What the Event Offered

Organised by the Jamia UPSC Society — an initiative of alumni of JMI's Residential Coaching Academy (RCA) — the Mela was held in association with JMI's Office of the Grievance Redressal Officer for Persons with Disabilities, with sponsorship from BANO IAS Institute. According to JMI Chief Public Relations Officer Saima Saeed, the event was designed to promote awareness about the UPSC Civil Services Examination and bridge information gaps that disadvantage first-generation aspirants and students from under-served backgrounds.

A central draw was the interactive panel featuring successful UPSC Civil Services candidates. Aspirants could put their questions directly to officers who had recently cleared the examination, a format that is increasingly rare outside expensive private coaching institutes.

Successful Candidates Who Interacted With Aspirants

The panel of successful candidates included Jayant Garg (AIR 64), Dhwanish Polavarapu (AIR 108), Shadab Ali Khan (AIR 415), Shahrukh Khan (AIR 575), Mohd. Irfan Kayamkhani (AIR 646), Mohd. Abuzar Ansari (AIR 671), Muskan Verma (AIR 771), and Sneha Yadav (AIR 782). Arun Rambha, a successful candidate from the UPSC CSE 2024 cycle, also participated. Experienced administrators added further depth: Jalaj Srivastava, a retired IAS officer of the 1984 batch, and Manju Seth, a retired IFS officer of the 1983 batch, both interacted with students.

Disability Inclusion as a Core Theme

A distinctive and relatively uncommon feature of UPSC Mela 2.0 was its formal partnership with JMI's Office of the Grievance Redressal Officer for Persons with Disabilities. The Office works to promote awareness, address disability-related grievances, and support the implementation of provisions relating to accessibility, equal opportunity, and the rights of persons with disabilities within the university.

The organisers argued that equal opportunity in civil services requires more than enrolment in education — it demands access to information, mentorship, accessibility measures, and fair participation at every stage of professional life. By embedding this theme into a mainstream exam-prep event, UPSC Mela 2.0 went beyond the typical coaching-fair format.

Vice-Chancellor's Address

Vice-Chancellor Mazhar Asif encouraged students to pursue their aspirations with dedication, perseverance, discipline, and a strong sense of responsibility towards society and the nation. His address stressed that informed preparation — not just hard work — is what enables young people to contribute meaningfully to nation-building. This comes amid growing demand from aspirants across Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities for affordable, accessible UPSC guidance that goes beyond rote coaching.

What This Signals

University-led UPSC awareness initiatives have gained traction in recent years as a counterweight to the dominance of private coaching hubs in cities like Delhi and Prayagraj. JMI's model — combining peer mentorship from recent qualifiers, veteran administrators, and a disability-inclusion mandate — offers a replicable template for other central universities. Whether the Mela translates into measurably better outcomes for JMI aspirants in upcoming UPSC cycles will be the real test of its impact.