Situated in the midst of the sylvan surroundings of Jahan Panah City Park, the Tughlaqabad Institutional Area and the Tughlaqabad Fort in south-east Delhi, Jamia Hamdard seeks to focus on environment and health ..
This brain child of Janab Hakim Abdul Hameed that owes its inception to his vision and pragmatic wisdom began in the shape of a disparate group of colleges. In 1962, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation-stone of the Institute of History of Medicine and Medical Research (IHMMR) and the new building of the Institute was inaugurated by Mrs. Indira Gandhi on February 14, 1974.
Other institutes and institutions that sprang up on the 90-acre Hamdard Nagar campus were the Institute of Islamic Studies, Majeedia Hospital, College of Pharmacy and Tibbia College. It was an uphill task to weld together this conglomerate of diverse institutions. Saiyid Hamid, a retired civil servant and a former Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University strung together these scattered beads into a University project ands processed it with the UGC and the Ministry of Human Resource Development ... These efforts culminated with award of a 'deemed University' status under the label Jamia Hamdard.
The Faculty of Unani Medicine of the University happens to be one of the institutions out of three in the country (Jamia Hamdard, Aligarh Muslim University and Health University, Vijayawada) awarding Ph.D. degree in Unani Medicine - the Unani system of medicine is recognised by the WHO, UNICEF and other international bodies. Even in the West Unani is being accepted as an alternative system of medicine known as "greenwave"
Recently, Harvard University established the Department of Ancient Medicine (including Unani) The Faculty of Unani Medicine is engaged in teaching and clinical research programme. The faculty has seven departments including a Department of History of Unani Medicine and Sciences ... The teaching programme includes BUMS course of 5 years and MD course of 3 years in the area of pharmacology and medicine ... Jamia Hamdard has a 150-bed hospital dealing with both Unani and modern systems of medicine. The Majeedia Hospital also provides herbal medicines and drugs prepared in the Hamdard Waqf Laboratory. Thus one can find linkage and interaction among university, hospital and industry. The hospital also provides facilities for practising herbal medicines and facilitating clinical support to teaching and research wings. During 1995-96, the hospital admitted 10,000 patients and 150,000 patients were treated by the OPD ..
The Faculty of Nursing ... provides diploma/degree course in nursing. The University has also introduced B.Sc. course for nursing ...
Jamia Hamdard is a pioneer in the field of pharmacy, imparting education at the diploma degree, post-graduate and doctoral levels. Diploma and degree courses, recognised by the AICTE as well as the Pharmacy Council of India, are rated amongst the best in the country. In pharmacy, we have added king of Unani as a new exposure and experiment.
The Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry has been working on synthesis of new compounds of potential pharmaceutical interest and on prodrugs which have attracted the interest of agencies abroad to test their activity against AIDS and cancer. Progress in the standardisation of Unani drugs in this faculty ... is a challenging task before us.
The Science Faculty ... has research and teaching programmes lays stress on health and environment. One of the major interests of the Department of Bio-chemistry is to study the biochemical basis of action on herbal drugs in collaboration with national institutions such as the National Institute for Immunology and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences ... The Department of Botany has introduced certain innovative programmes of study such as Environmental Botany, the Centre for Bio-technology and the Department of Medical Elementology and Toxicologv. The faculty studies the impact of environmental stress caused by air pollution on growth performance of medicinal plants and on the amount and quality of compounds contained by the plants.
The Institute of Islamic Studies, the Centre for Federal Studies and the Centre for Socio-legal Studies even part of Jamia Hamdard ... The Department of Iślamic Studies focuses on the issues confronting the Indian minorities and contemporary Muslim world ..
In 1994, the University established the Centre for Federal Studies (CFS) which seeks to pursue research on different aspects of Indian federation and other federal constitutions. Associated with International Association of Centre for Federal Studies (AICFS), the CFS is the only Centre of the kind in Asia. It has come out with some important ... books and research papers which provide useful ideas and information for federal governance ... The University has started MCA course in the Computer Centre under self-financing scheme. Its management course programme has also been approved and is likely to start in the coming session.
The Jamia Hamdard Library is fast developing into an important centre of manuscripts on Islamic studies, medicine; Indian civilization, religious and Central Asia.
The Museum on the History of Medicine has a wealth of information on the evolution of the herbal medicine system. A well-planned Convention Centre ... and the Scholar House have attracted major industries and agencies to have it as a venue for holding various programmes and seminars.
The University has started work on a gymnasium and other sports facilities ... The total strength of the students has reached 1500 ... However, paucity of funds has hampered ... development and institution building. There are three main sources of funds - the University Grants Commission, Hamdard National Foundation and self-generated income.
Vice-Chancellor Allauddin Ahmad has had a long experience in research and administration. For three-and- a-half years he was Deputy Director-General (Education) in Indian Council of Agriculture Research and Vice- Chancellor of S.K. University of Agriculture Science (J&K) for about 10 years. Recently he was elected as the Vice-President, Association of Indian Universities and member of the Council of Association of Commonwealth Universities for 1996-98. In 1997 he became the Vice- Chancellor in the Executive Council of the International Islamic Forum for Science, Technology and Human Resource Development.
(Source: The Nation and the World, 1 February, 1998)
