Srinagar, March 9: The Chancellor of Central University of Kashmir (CUK), Lt. Gen. (Retired) Syed Atta Hasnain on Tuesday strongly emphasized the need to establish a robust higher education system in Kashmir.
“I aspire that all the students in the valley will receive higher and technical education from the established institutions in Kashmir only and none of the students will have to travel outside for the same,” said the Chancellor of Kashmir. CUK during the Presidency of the 7th Meeting of the University Tribunal was held in both offline and online mode at the SK International Convention Center (SKICC) here.
Vice-Chancellor, CUK, Prof. Mehraj ud Din Mir, Vice Chancellor, University of Kashmir. Talat Ahmad, CUK Registrar, Prof. M Afzal Zargar, Controller of Examinations, Prof. Parveen Pandit, Finance Officer, Prof. Fayaz Ahmad Nikka, Deans of all Schools, Heads of Departments, Members of the Court of inside and outside the valley attended the meeting both offline and online. Prominent Srinagar businessman Mr. Mushtaq Chaya and a well-known social worker and education entrepreneur Mrs. Qazi Dil Afroz also attended the meeting.
Lt. Gen. (Retired) Syed Atta Hasnain said people, especially the student community, are facing difficult times due to the Covid-19 pandemic, across the country. “The university must design new techniques (online and offline) and come up with new teaching and learning methods to deliver education to students in these difficult times,” the CUK Chancellor added. Interacting with key faculty members and university officials, the Chancellor commended them for strictly adhering to the academic and examination schedule, despite the lockdown due to Covid-19. He requested the university officials to speed up the construction process for establishing the campus at the designated site in Tulmulla and the university town of Watlar.
Earlier, in his welcome address, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Mehraj ud Din Mir gave a detailed account of how the university is functioning, especially in times of Covid. He said the university had made great strides in academics and research, but failed on the infrastructure front. Professor Mehraj ud Din Mir said that the university currently has nine schools of study, which run 45 undergraduate, postgraduate, diploma and research programs in four different campuses in Ganderbal district, adding that the number of students and scholars crossed 2700 and 235 respectively. He said that the University Grants Commission (UGC), Chairman, Prof. DP Singh, recently laid the foundation stones for Watlar University Township and the construction of the University block G+1 on the designated Tulmulla campus. Professor Mir said that in addition to the 5000 kanals of land allocated by the former state government, the current dispensation has given an additional 95 kanals of land in which hostels for boys and girls, the Vice Chancellor’s Lodge , residential accommodation for teaching and administrative staff, health center, guesthouse, indoor stadium, community center, chowkidar/security quarters, are under construction
He said that despite several constraints, university students have brought distinctions by participating in events and competitions organized by other universities.
The Registrar, Prof. M Afzal Zargar, who took up the agenda items, made a presentation and briefed the members of the Court on the difficulties faced by the university in terms of infrastructure development. He said the wetland issue and the excessive delays caused by some of the implementing agencies have already caught the attention of officials from the Ministry of Education and the current dispensation. A
Participating in the discussion, the members of the court made a strong appeal to the Ministry of Education and the central government to provide adequate financial support to the University for the development of infrastructure. “Universities in Kashmir, owing to their disadvantageous strategic location, need strong government support to catch up with the rest of the well-developed institutions in the country,” they pointed out.
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