Says need to put special focus on skill development, capacity building
Chairs 82nd council meeting of Kashmir University
Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Monday said that many industries are coming up in J&K and there is a need to put special focus on skill development and capacity building.
The Lt Governor chaired the 82nd Council Meeting of the University of Kashmir, at Raj Bhawan.
Sinha, who is the Chancellor of the University of Kashmir, highlighted the vision of the National Education Policy-2020 in transforming and uplifting the education sector across the country.
“NEP 2020 provides a roadmap to establish India as a knowledge economy. It should be implemented in letter and spirit and it is essential that through this transformation, our higher education institutions contribute to create prosperous society,” the Lt Governor said.
The Lt Governor impressed on time-bound completion of various academic and research programmes and award of degrees to the students.
The Lt Governor called for enhanced research activities on local problems and issues by the University. Enhanced research activities will provide solutions to local problems and it will create comprehensive knowledge wealth that will be the key factor in all-round development. He said many industries are coming up in J&K and there is a need to put special focus on skill development and capacity building.
“The University should build a strong eco-system for nurturing innovation and start-ups and the government will provide all the required assistance,” the Lt Governor said.
The University Council approved the proposal related to introduction of several new courses at the main and satellite campuses of the University to cater to the growing needs of the students.
These new courses include PG in Artificial Intelligence; Bachelor’s course in Economics, BBA-LLB and Medical Lab Technology programmes at South Campus, Anantnag; Integrated BSc-MSc Botany at North Campus, Baramulla and Integrated UG-PG programme in Arabic at Kupwara Campus.
The Council resolved to run all courses strictly as per the guidelines and rules of the relevant statutory/regulatory bodies like UGC, AICTE, MCI etc.
The University Council also held detailed deliberations on several academic, administrative and research-related matters aimed to bring further qualitative improvement in the higher education sector of Jammu Kashmir.
Earlier, Prof Nilofer Khan, Vice-Chancellor University of Kashmir gave a detailed power-point presentation on the growth and progression of the University in areas of academics, research, extension education and extracurricular activities.
Highlighting the University’s noteworthy rankings in NAAC, NIRF and QS, Prof Nilofer informed the Council that the University of Kashmir is holding the Y20 event in May 2023 as part of the country’s G20 Presidency, while all departments are presently holding programmes to spread the country’s G20 message among the masses.
The meeting was informed about the achievements made by the University in key sectors like innovations and incubations, multidisciplinary research promotion, faculty and student exchange programmes and important MOUs signed by the University with various local and national institutions of importance.
Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to Lt Governor; Dr Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor; Alok Kumar, Principal Secretary to Government, Higher Education Department; other Council members and senior officials attended the meeting, in person and through virtual mode.