University of Kashmir

Campuses

The inception of the University of Kashmir, dates back to the establishment of Jammu and Kashmir University in the year 1948. In the year 1969 it was bifurcated into two full-fledged Universities: University of Kashmir at Srinagar and University of Jammu at Jammu. The University of Kashmir since its establishment, has been focused at Hazratbal and encompassing three adjacent areas viz. Amar Singh Bagh, Naseem Bagh and Mirza Bagh. This Campus is spread over 263 acres (1.06 km²). The university is the largest university by number of full-time students in the jammu and Kashmir state. A major part of Amar Singh Bagh and Naseem Bagh constitute the Hazratbal campus which is laid out on the north-eastern bank of Dal Lake. Earlier, many postgraduate departments, research and other centres were housed in Naseem Bagh. But, the university resolved to develop Naseem Bagh into a heritage site and thereafter, many departments were shifted to other areas of the Hazratbal campus. As of April 2013 Zakura Campus is being developed on 300 kanals of land in close proximity to Hazratbal campus to meet expansion requirements of the University. Mirza Bagh or "University Town" constitutes buildings housing quarters for the university staff. The idea of extending postgraduate programmes to colleges and also establishing new campuses at Ananthnag and Baramulla was conceived by the then Vice Chancellor Prof J A K Tareen in 2002. He mobilised over 30 crores for the development of the university from the Prime ministers fund for the overall development of the main campus and the establishment of the new campuses. The foundation stones were also laid by Mr Mufti Muhammad Sayeed and the plans of buildings were approved. The locations of the campuses had to be changed for reasons of likely floods. After Prof Tareen the development of campuses took a longer time and became operational in 2008/2009. The New social science block, the Life science block, the examination block,The Humanities block,the Distance Education block, The Media block and many other buildings were constructed during 2001 and 20004 during prof Tareens period out of the PMs special fund he brought for the University. The 200 capacity convention centre was also completed. South Campus of the University established on 259 kanals of land at Fateh Garh, Anantnag was started in October, 2008. North Campus of the University on 559 kanals at Delina, Baramulla was started in December, 2009. Three more campuses at Kupwara, Kargil and Leh are coming up.

Present form

The University has grown into one of the largest universities. At present, there are 12 faculties, 47 academic departments, 21 centres, 36 colleges and 6 other (privately managed) recognised institutes spread all over the state.The two largest departments in terms of student enrolment include Faculty of Law and the Business School. The faculty of Law being one of the oldest departments runs three courses LLB, LLM and B.A,LLB(Hons). It also has a P.G Diploma course in Human Rights.The Faculty of Law has been successfully pursuing higher standards of academic excellence. The department has produced eminent jurists, lawyers, authors, civil servants and politicians. The department's student body, "Law Society" has been actively organising debates, seminars and moot court competitions. The Faculty is publishing a Refereed Research Journal, Kashmir University Law Review (KULR) which is acclaimed across the country and appreciated by academia, eminent lawyers and judges. The Business School has become an iconic institution in the field of management education & has been playing an incredible role in the growth of corporate sector and management education in India. Its Integrated MBA(IMBA) & Master of Tourism & Hospitality management (MTHM) programmes are unique blend of strategic thinking , pragmatism in implementation and cutting-edge on relevance . The courses offered by the department of Media Education Research Centre (MERC) in mass communication and journalism has been a boon for the youth of the valley. The Centre has produced around more than 800 postgraduates,about 80% of them are working with various media organizations at local, national and international level. The alumni of the Centre are placed in reputed national broadcast journalism organizations like NDTV, CNN-IBN, Headlines Today, Sahara, Zee News, Times Now, Star News; national print media organizations like Times of India, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, The Hindu, Mail Today, Outlook, India Today, Tehelka, and The Week. Masters programme in “Kashmir and South Asia Studies” introduced at the UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Institute Of Kashmir Studies from 2013 academic session under a reformulated MoU between South Asia Foundation (SAF), India and University of Kashmir, Srinagar has seen students within the state as well as from across the border showing keen interest in studying Kashmir from a multi dimensional perspective. Other faculties have made remarkable achievements since its inception with students preferring to pursue higher education from this university. In 2014 the University started its much awaited engineering college - Institute of Technology at the newly acquired Zakura Campus. Currently, the college offers four year B.Tech courses in Mechanical Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering and Electrical Engineering.

Library

The university has a temperature controlled central library, called Allama Iqbal Library, which houses books, national and international journals and magazines and also includes internet browsing facility. At present, it has a collection of above six lac books with rare manuscripts numbering to four hundred and fifteen. Allama Iqbal Library has developed a special collection for visually impaired students. The collection includes Braille books, DVDs/CDs, DAISY-Digital Talking Books etc. Various local, National and International news papers are available to the users for keeping them up-to-date.

Scholarships

Students selected for admission to various courses/programmes in the university are eligible to receive two merit scholarships which are paid to top two merit holders. Merit scholarship in favour of previous year paid students is granted on the basis of merit in the EnteranceTest to the course and in the final year it is awarded on the basis of merit in the M.A/ M.Sc./ M.Com./ MLIS Previous/ Ist & 2nd semester examination. the scholarship is granted from the date of admission to the course up to the last date of the examination, subject to a maximunm period of 12 calendar months.

There are four scholarships in each Department/ Research Centre awarded for carrying out research leading to the award of Ph.D./M.phil. degrees in addition to contingency grant payable annually for meeting miscellaneous expenses.

The university has also adopted a scheme called "Student Aid Fund" under which a financial assistance is extended to students, particularly the meritorious ones who come for low income groups. The kashmir University Alumni Association also provides financial assistance to students with a poor economic background with preference being give to students who are orphans.

Hostels

The university provides residential facilities on first-come-first-served basis to the teaching and non-teaching staff as well as to students.

Notable Alumni