On Sunday, Govandi, the sprawling cluster of slum settlements near the Deonar dumping ground, saw a unique celebration. The Govandi Citizens Welfare Forum felicitated the first boy from their neighbourhood to crack the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam.

Shafiuddin Siddiqui’s entry into the Indian Engineering Services (IES) is being celebrated as a victory for Govandi, whose boys are known more for performing stunts on local trains than for academic excellence. The M East ward, in which Govandi falls, is the most neglected one in Mumbai. It has the lowest Human Development Index (HDI), with life expectancy the lowest, and infant mortality and number of TB patients the highest.

Shafiuddin Siddiqui

Yet, it is from this settlement that 28-year-old Shafiuddin fulfilled his dream. Though he had already passed two government competitive exams: the railways’ exam and the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC), the UPSC had always been Shafiuddin’s goal. This was his third attempt, and he scored the second-highest marks in the interview stage. He hopes to get into defence engineering.

After completing his SSC from the Anjuman Falahul Islam Urdu High School in Govandi, and Std XII from Swami Vivekanand Junior College, Chembur, Shafiuddin went to M H Saboo Siddik College to study civil engineering. It was here that he heard about the engineering branch of the UPSC, and was tempted to try his luck. “The atmosphere in Govandi was not conducive to long hours of study, but I used the TISS library, and finally went to Delhi for a year to prepare for the exam,” he said.

His focus helped him get a job in the Railways, where he worked as a section engineer for three years in Nerul, Navi Mumbai. After he cracked the MPSC, he was posted in Asangaon in December 2022 as an assistant engineer.

Proud parents

“We knew from his school days that he would go far,” said Shafiuddin’s proud father Shahabuddin. Interestingly, his father, the son of an army man, was the only one in his family not to enter college; he ran away from home in UP to Mumbai in 1990 and tried his hand at various businesses before settling in Govandi as a civil contractor.  But he and his wife Rahila Khatun, who also studied only till school, made sure their children went far. Shafiuddin is the eldest; one sister is an Ayurvedic doctor, the other a CA; his other siblings are studying.

Now on a five-day fast that she had vowed to keep if her son made it, Rahila reveals that unlike others, they rarely visited their village because that would have affected the children’s education.

No discrimination

Has Shafiuddin faced any hostility as a Muslim at work? “Not at all,” he replied. “I was a bit apprehensive but all my perceptions turned out false. People in Maharashtra are so warm.  Whether in the Railways or now in Asangaon, there’s absolutely no feeling of caste or religion among us. We eat with each other. Actually, without my senior engineers’ help, I wouldn’t have been able to prepare for the UPSC while working. I feel really sad about leaving this job.”

Shafiuddin feels students should be told in Std IX about the myriad avenues available to them in government service. “They may not think it useful at that stage, but the idea will germinate in due time and guide them.”

An inspiration

Said Govandi Citizens Welfare Forum convenor Faiyaz Shaikh, “Most students in Govandi don’t study beyond Std X or XII. Some lack the financial resources to train for competitive exams; most are just not aware as there’s little career counselling. We want to project Shafiuddin as an inspiration to our students.”

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