SRINAGAR: The Jammu Kashmir Government has said that while it continues to receive demands for new degree colleges across the Union Territory, its immediate focus remains on strengthening the 52 colleges sanctioned in 2019 to make them fully functional.
In a series of written replies in the Assembly to questions by members including Nizam-ud-din Bhat, Rajeev Kumar Bhagat, Muzaffar Iqbal Khan, Mohammad Akram, and Rameshwar Singh, the Higher Education Department outlined that proposals for new degree colleges in Manjakote, Arnia, Lohai-Malhar, Bandipora, and Surankote have been examined but not approved.
The Department said that a State Level Empowered Standing Committee, constituted in September 2018, was tasked to identify unserved areas and assess feasibility for new colleges. Following this, sector-wise committees were formed to study demands from various districts and submit feasibility reports based on parameters such as land availability, road connectivity, population catchment, and distance from the nearest existing colleges.
At Manjakote in Rajouri, land parcels measuring over 140 kanals were identified across three villages — Lower Saroola, Mangal Nagar, and Dehri Dhara. However, the Department said that the committee’s recommendation “was not explicit” and the proposal remains under review.
In Arnia (Bishnah Constituency), the Department noted that two government degree colleges—R.S. Pura and Bishnah—already cater to the area’s educational needs. With 17 degree colleges operational in Jammu district, the Government said a new college at Arnia would be “reassessed upon achieving optimum enrolment” in the existing institutions.
At Lohai-Malhar in Bani, the proposal was found lacking in certain parameters. While the area’s remoteness (about 60 km from GDC Bani) met the distance criterion, the number of students in local higher secondary schools was only 307, below the minimum benchmark of 500 prescribed for new colleges. The Department said that although land availability was indicated, it had not been formally authenticated by revenue authorities.
In Bandipora, the Government clarified that the existing Government Degree College already caters to the higher education needs of the region, with 497 female and 530 male students. With five other degree colleges operational in the district, the Government said the focus would remain on “ensuring delivery of quality education and strengthening academic infrastructure” rather than opening a new women’s college.
A similar position was stated for Surankote (Poonch), where 66 kanals of land have been identified for a proposed women’s college at village Potha. The feasibility of the site is being examined by a committee set up in May 2024, but no formal sanction has been accorded so far.
Officials said the Government’s priority for now is to equip the 52 degree colleges sanctioned under Government Orders No. 48-HE and 106-HE of 2019 with infrastructure such as buildings, laboratories, libraries, and faculty. Many of these colleges are still operating from temporary accommodations even six years after sanction.
“The focus remains on making the newly established colleges fully functional before considering fresh proposals,” the Department said, adding that once these institutions are strengthened, feasibility for new colleges in remote and unserved areas will be reassessed.
The replies underline the Government’s shift from expansion to consolidation, as Jammu and Kashmir’s higher education system grapples with resource constraints, uneven enrolment, and infrastructure gaps that continue to delay the full operationalisation of the 2019 batch of colleges.
