Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) Vice Chancellor, Professor Najma Akhtar, recently received the 'Lifetime Achievement Award-Academia.' The accolade was presented to her by Raghunath Anant Mashelkar (Padma Vibhushan) during the conference and award ceremony titled "Making India Employable," organised by TeamLease EdTech.

Professor Akhtar was chosen as the recipient of this honour by a jury panel comprised of renowned educators and industry experts. Her award recognises her outstanding contributions to bridging the gap between education and employment, as stated in the official announcement.

In terms of institutional progress, Professor Akhtar recently revealed that the Union Government has granted approval for the establishment of a medical college within the JMI campus. 

She expressed her delight, stating, "We have facilities for dentistry, physiotherapy, and first aid health centres, but a medical college has been conspicuously absent at Jamia. As the Vice Chancellor, I have consistently advocated for the addition of a medical college, on behalf of our students and faculty. We approached the Indian government with this request, and I am thrilled to announce that JMI has received permission to establish a medical college on our campus." This announcement was made during the centenary year convocation of the institute.

Furthermore, she disclosed plans for JMI to establish an international campus in the Middle East in the near future. "In recent years, Jamia has made notable strides in international rankings," she remarked, highlighting the university's global aspirations.