University of Kashmir

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University of Kashmir (UoK), informally known as Kashmir University (KU), is a collegiate public state university located in the Hazratbal neighbourhood, on the western side of Dal Lake in the city of Srinagar, in Jammu and Kashmir, India, which was established in 1948.

University of Kashmir
MottoFrom Darkness to Light
TypePublic
Established1948; 76 years ago (1948)
Parent institution
Government of Jammu and Kashmir
AccreditationNAAC Grade A+[1]
Academic affiliations
ChancellorLieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir
Vice-ChancellorNilofer Khan
Students100000+[2]
Location,
India

34°07′57″N 74°50′15″E / 34.1325°N 74.8375°E / 34.1325; 74.8375
CampusUrban, 247 acres (1.00 km2), 400
LanguageEnglish, Kashmiri, Urdu
Websiteuok.edu.in

The university is divided into three parts; Hazratbal Campus (main campus), Naseem Bagh Campus, and Mirza Bagh Campus.[3]

The university offers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programs in the fields of liberal arts, business, commerce & management studies, education, law, applied sciences & Technology, biological sciences, physical & material sciences, social sciences, medicine, dentistry, engineering, oriental learning, and music & fine arts.[4] It has been awarded Grade "A+" by the NAAC on 20 May 2019. It has also been awarded rank 45 among universities in India by NIRF ranking 2024.[5][6][7]

History

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1951: The first convocation procession of the University of Jammu & Kashmir led by Ghulam Ahmad Ashai, the Registrar. He is followed by the Vice-Chancellor, Wazir Janki Nath (Chief Justice), Sheikh Abdullah (Prime Minister of J&K), Pandit Nehru (Prime Minister of India), C. Rajagopalachari (the Governor-General of India) and Karan Singh (the Yuvraj at the time).[citation needed]

The inception of the University of Kashmir dates back to the establishment of Jammu and Kashmir University in 1948. Contribution of academics of various faculties needs special mention. Notable alumni are spread around globe, have made a name for country and for the university. In 1969, it was made 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 encompasses three adjacent areas: Amar Singh Bagh, Naseem Bagh and Mirza Bagh. This campus is spread over 263 acres (1.06 km2).[3] It is the largest university by a number of full-time students in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

A major part of Amar Singh Bagh and Naseem Bagh constitute the Hazratbal campus which is laid out on the northeastern 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.[3] 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.[8] Mirza Bagh or "University Town" constitutes buildings housing quarters for the university staff.[3]

The idea of extending postgraduate programmes to colleges and establishing new campuses at Ananthnag and Baramulla was conceived by the then Vice Chancellor Prof Raees Ahmad in 2002. He mobilised over 30 crores for the development of the university from the prime minister's fund for the overall development of the main campus and the establishment of the new campuses. The foundation stones were laid by Mufti Muhammad Sayeed and the plans of buildings were approved. The locations of the campuses had to be changed because of likely floods. After Prof Tareen the development of campuses took a long 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 in 2001 and 2004 during Prof Tareen's period out of the PMs special fund. The 200-capacity convention centre was also completed.

The South Campus established on 259 kanals of land at Fateh Garh, Anantnag was started in October 2008.[9] The North Campus on 559 kanals at Delina, Baramulla was started in December 2009.[9] Three more campuses at Kupwara, Kargil and Leh are coming up.[10][11]

Present form

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There are 12 faculties, 47 academic departments, 21 centres, 36 colleges and six (privately managed) recognised institutes spread all over the state. The two largest departments in student enrolment include Faculty of Law[12] and the Business School.[13]

The Faculty of Law being one of the oldest departments runs three courses LLB, LLM and B.A, LLB(Hons). The department's student body, "Law Society," actively organises debates, seminars, and moot court competitions. The faculty publishes a refereed research journal, Kashmir University Law Review (KULR).[12]

The business school has been renamed as the Department of management studies before the NAAC visit, that was held in 2019. It was changed because they added some other courses as well and thus the name Department of management studies other than the business school. It is still called as the business school but on papers the name has changed

The courses offered by the department of Media Education Research Centre (MERC) are in mass communication and journalism. In 2014 the university started its engineering college – Institute of Technology at the newly acquired Zakura Campus. Currently, the college offers four-year BTech courses in Mechanical Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering and Electrical Engineering.

Campus

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The university has 247 acres campus in Hazratbal. In order to make education more accessible to people living in remote areas of Kashmir valley, the university has established Satellite Campuses at Anantnag (South Campus), Zakura Campus (Institute of Technology), and Baramulla (North Campus). Three more Satellite Campuses at Kupwara, Kargil and Leh are being established.[3]

 
University Convocation Complex (December 2011)

Library

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The university has a central library called Allama Iqbal Library. It has a collection of over 600,000 books including 415 rare manuscripts. It was established to cater the needs of scholars, researchers and students of the university. With the split of university in 1969, the library was shared by the two universities (University of Kashmir and University of Jammu).[14]

Hostels

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

  • Gani Kashmiri Hostel for research scholars pursuing M.Phil. and PhD programmes
  • Habba Khatoon Girls Hostel for female students
  • Mehboob-ul-Aalam Hostel for postgraduate male students
  • Shiekh-ul-Aalam (A.R) Hostel for male students
  • Maulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri Hostel for male students

Affiliated colleges

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The University of Kashmir has 45 affiliated and 21 constituent colleges.[15][16]

 
Side view of the main building of Government Degree College, Sopore

Constituent colleges

Permanently affiliated government colleges

Organisation and administration

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Faculties, departments, and centres

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  • School of Arts, Languages and Literature[17]
    • Department of Arabic
    • Department of Urdu
    • Department of English
    • Department of Kashmiri
    • Department of Foreign Languages
    • Department of Library and Information Science
    • Department of Linguistics
    • Department of Persian
    • Department of Sanskrit
    • Department of Hindi
  • School of Social Sciences
    • Department of Economics
    • Department of History
    • Department of Shah-i-Hamadan(A.R) Institute of Islamic Studies
    • Media Education Research Center (MERC)
    • Department of Political Science
    • Department of Sociology & Social Work
    • Department of Psychology
    • Department of Philosophy
    • Department of Library & Information Sciences (LIS)
  • Faculty of Business & Financial Studies & Management
  • Faculty of Education
    • Department of Education
    • Department of Physical Education
  • Faculty of Medicine
  • Faculty of Dentistry
  • School of Unani and Ayurvedic Medicine
  • Faculty of Engineering
    • Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering (Zakura Campus)
    • Department of Mechanical Engineering (Zakura Campus)
    • Department of Electrical Engineering (Zakura Campus)
    • Department of Civil Engineering (Zakura Campus)
    • Department of Computer Science and Engineering (North Campus, Delina Baramulla)
  • Faculty of Law
  • Faculty of Music & Fine Arts
  • Faculty of Oriental Learning
  • Faculty of Biological Sciences
    • Department of Botany
    • Department of Biochemistry
    • Department of Zoology
    • Department of Biotechnology
    • Department of Clinical Biochemistry
  • Faculty of Physical & Material Sciences
    • Department of Chemistry
    • Department of Geology & Geophysics
    • Department of Mathematics
    • Department of Physics
    • Department of Statistics
  • School of Earth and Environment Sciences
    • Department of Earth Sciences
    • Department of Environmental Science
    • Department of Geography & Regional Development
    • Department of Geoinformatics
  • Faculty of Applied Sciences & Technology
    • Electronics & Instrumentation Technology
    • Institute of Home Science
    • Pharmaceutical Science
    • Department of Computer Science
    • Department of Food Science & Technology
    • Department of Information Technology ( currently under IT&SS)
  • Centres
    • Directorate of Physical Education & Sports
    • Directorate of Distance Education
    • Directorate of Life Long Learning
    • Directorate of Information Technology & Support System (IT & SS)
    • Directorate of Internal Quality Assurance (DIQA)
    • Directorate of Watch & Ward
    • Directorate of Hygiene & Environment
    • Directorate of Convocation Complex
    • Centre of Central Asian Studies (CCAS)
    • Centre of Research for Development (CORD)
    • Centre for Energy Studies
    • Centre for Biodiversity & Taxonomy
    • University Science & Instrumentation Centre
    • Educational Multimedia Research Centre (EMMRC)
    • State Resource Centre (SRC)
    • Public Relations Centre (PRC)
    • Centre for Career Planning and Counselling(CCPC)
    • Population Research Centre (PRC)
    • Allama Iqbal(A.R) Institute of Culture & Philosophy
    • Institute of Music & Fine Arts
    • Regional Study Center
  • Faculty of Nursing

Academics

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University of Kashmir offers 107 courses across 11 streams at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level. Under undergraduate programme, the university offers three-year Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Science streams, four-year Bachelor of Technology and five-year integrated BA LLB courses in different specializations. Under postgraduate programme, the university offers two-year Master of Arts, Master of Business Administration, MBA-FM, Master of Social Work, Master of Commerce, Master of Technology, Master of Pharmacy and Master of Computer Applications courses.[4] These courses are offered by different schools of specialisations which fall under their respective departments and faculties.[19]

Scholarships

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Merit scholarships

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Students selected for admission to various courses/programmes in the university are eligible to receive two merit scholarships which are paid to the top two merit holders. Merit scholarship in favour of previous year paid students is granted on the basis of merit in the entrance test to the course. In the final year, it is awarded on the basis of merit in the M.A/ MSc/ M.Com./ MLIS Previous/ 1st & 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 maximum period of 12 calendar months.[20]

Research scholarships

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There are six departmental scholarships in each Department/Research Centre awarded for research leading to the award of PhD/M.Phil. degrees in addition to contingency grant payable annually for meeting miscellaneous expenses. The amount of scholarship paid to each selected scholar is Rs 10000/= per month for the period of maximum three years.

Students aid

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The university has adopted a scheme called "Student Aid Fund" under which financial assistance is extended to students, particularly the meritorious ones from low-income groups. The Kashmir University Alumni Association also provides financial assistance to students with poor economic backgrounds with preference given to students who are orphans.

Rankings

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University rankings
General – international
QS (Asia) (2023)[21]451-500
General – India
NIRF (Overall) (2024)[22]69
NIRF (Universities) (2024)[23]45
QS (India) (2020)[24]56-60


Internationally, the University of Kashmir was ranked 451–500 in Asia in the QS World University Rankings for 2023.[21] In India, the QS World University Rankings ranked the University of Kashmir 56-60 and the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranked it 69th overall and 45th among universities in 2024.[25]

Sports

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The Directorate of Physical Education & Sports was established in the university in the year 1948 with the objective of promoting sports culture among the youth for the overall development of personality. Since then, it has hosted various inter-university tournaments in various sports like water skiing, kayaking, canoeing, surfing, sailing, and dragon boating at zonal and national levels. The university students have also earned laurels to the university in International Winter Sports Championships. Adventure sports like mountaineering and trekking have also been introduced. Several training camps are also organised in the university to train the students pursuing different courses.[26]

The university has cricket, hockey, football, volleyball, handball, baseball, tennis, and basketball courts/fields and gyms within the main campus.

Notable alumni

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Kashmir University receives prestigious A+ grade by NAAC". DIQA, KU. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  2. ^ "University of Kashmir: Review". EduRank. 21 November 2019. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e University of Kashmir, Official Website of. "About UoK". University of Kashmir. Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  4. ^ a b "Academic Programs". University of Kashmir. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  5. ^ Complete List of Accredited and Re-accredited Institutions list under New Methodology – CGPA System (PDF), National Assessment and Accreditation Council, 2011, p. 160, archived (PDF) from the original on 1 September 2011, retrieved 16 January 2012
  6. ^ Accreditation status is valid for the following Institutions (PDF), National Assessment and Accreditation Council, 2011, p. 156, archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2010, retrieved 16 January 2012
  7. ^ "2024 NIRF Ranking" (PDF).
  8. ^ "Omar inaugurates Girls Hostel, lays foundation of Boys Hostel at Kashmir University". 3 June 2012. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  9. ^ a b Shafi, Showkat (14 August 2011). "KU at your doorstep". Greater Kashmir. Archived from the original on 16 August 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  10. ^ "KU to establish Kargil, Leh campuses soon". Greater Kashmir. 9 August 2011. Archived from the original on 2 August 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  11. ^ "KU Kupwara campus on cards". Greater Kashmir. 24 September 2011. Archived from the original on 3 May 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  12. ^ a b Kashmir, Department of Physics, University of. "Department of Law, University of Kashmir". Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Kashmir, The Business School, University of. "The Business School, University of Kashmir". Archived from the original on 3 May 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "Allama Iqbal Library". University of Kashmir. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  15. ^ "Name of Colleges (Under the jurisdiction of Kashmir University)". kashmiruniversity.net. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Constituent Colleges". Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  17. ^ Banday, Asim. "University of Kashmir". kashmiruniversity.net. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  18. ^ "Law, University of Kashmir". law.uok.edu.in. Archived from the original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  19. ^ "University of Kashmir: Programs Offered". Shiksha. Archived from the original on 30 August 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  20. ^ "Financial Aids and Scholarships". University of Kashmir. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  21. ^ a b "QS Asia University Rankings 2023". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 8 November 2022.
  22. ^ "National Institutional Ranking Framework 2024 (Overall)". National Institutional Ranking Framework. Ministry of Education. 12 August 2024.
  23. ^ "National Institutional Ranking Framework 2024 (Universities)". National Institutional Ranking Framework. Ministry of Education. 12 August 2024.
  24. ^ "QS India University Rankings 2020". Top Universities. 11 October 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  25. ^ "2024 NIRF Ranking" (PDF).
  26. ^ "Sports". Directorate of Physical Education & Sport. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  27. ^ "Nazki is Orissa High Court Chief Justics". India Today. Press Trust of India. 16 November 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  28. ^ Abhishek Saha, Syed Salahuddin: From political science student in Kashmir to ‘global terrorist’ Archived 11 January 2022 at the Wayback Machine, Hindustan times, 27 June 2017.
  29. ^ "Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance". Archived from the original on 13 September 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
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