University of Kashmir


The University of Kashmir is a university located on the western side of Dal Lake in the city of Srinagar, which lies in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
It has been awarded Grade "A+" with CGPA 3.31 by the NAAC on 20/05/2019. It has also been credited with rank "53" by National Institutional Ranking Framework and Rank "150" by QS BRICS 2019.

Campuses

The inception of the University of Kashmir dates back to the establishment of Jammu and Kashmir University in 1948. 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. It is the largest university by 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. 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 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 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 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. The North Campus 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 of Kashmir has grown into one of the largest universities. There are 12 faculties, 47 academic departments, 21 centres, 36 colleges and six recognised institutes spread all over the state. The two largest departments in 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. 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," actively organises debates, seminars, and moot court competitions. The faculty publishes a refereed research journal, Kashmir University Law Review, 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 and has been playing an incredible role in the growth of corporate sector and management education in India. Its Integrated MBA and Master of Tourism & Hospitality Management programmes are unique blends of strategic thinking, pragmatism in implementation and cutting-edge on relevance. The courses offered by the department of Media Education Research Centre 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 media organizations at local, national and international levels. 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 and national print media organizations like Times of India, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, The Hindu, Mail Today, Outlook, India Today, Tehelka, and The Week. The 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, India and the University of Kashmir, Srinagar has seen students in the state and across the border showing keen interest in studying Kashmir from a multi-dimensional perspective. Other faculties have made remarkable achievements since inception with students preferring to pursue higher education from this university. In 2014 the university started its 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 central library called Allama Iqbal Library. It has a collection of over 600,000 books including 415 rare manuscripts.

Faculties, departments, and centres

Merit 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 entrance test to the course. In the final year it is awarded on the basis of merit in the M.A/ M.Sc./ 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.

Research scholarships

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

Students aid

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.

Hostels

The university provides residential facilities on first-come-first-served basis to the teaching and non-teaching staff as well as to students.
The National Institutional Ranking Framework ranked University of Kashmir 78th overall in India and 48th among universities in 2020.

Notable alumni

Affiliated colleges include:
Constituent colleges
Permanently affiliated government colleges