The ID Card Menace at Jamia

New Delhi; They fake it until they make it. In the past three months, from August 2019, the Jamia Millia Islamia administration has seized around 726 invalid student identity cards, which were used or rather misused by outsiders to enter the university campus. Waseem Ahmad Shakeel, Chief Proctor, Jamia Millia Islamia said that, checking for invalid ID cards has always been a practice in the university, however with the appointment of the new Vice-Chancellor, the administration had to implement strict measures to curb the intrusion and review the surveillance in and around the university as well. Outsiders from nearby areas enter the campus using either fake or expired identity cards to commit theft, harass students, engage in substance abuse or to simply create nuisance in the university premises.

“Students from other universities also tried to enter in order to create unrest and create political space”

as reported by the Jamia Millia Islamia Administration.

Ex-students in order to access the university library and other resources used old or expired identity cards, and can been seen hanging out in the parks and canteens.

“The intruders have a different behaviour. They try to hide the photograph on the ID card, or just show the backside of the card, or cover the hologram when asked for the identity card”

said security guard A. Khan

The university administration also claims of being responsible for the security of the students, especially the hostel residents who are located in close proximity of the campus. Hence, an increase in the security checking has been observed. The security guards follow simple cues to identify outsiders.

“The ID card is the only proof for students to enter the university and the checking at every gate is just terrifying“

as quoted by Hiba Khan, a student of the Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia

While the administration talks of an increased presence of outsiders and invalid ID cards, newly admitted students of the university, complained about the delay in getting their ID cards. First year students have to wait for months in order to get their cards. Meanwhile, they make use of fee slips or photocopies of fee slip to enter the university premises and in this process, some students even lose their original fee slip. The student identity card is also used as a library card. Due to the delay, first year students have not been able to issue or borrow books from the library either.

The process for getting duplicate ID cards still remains hectic and exhorting and in such cases ID card becomes a prized possession for every student of the university.

Maryam Ahmed
Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia