CS urges J&K universities to link courses with industry demand

Jammu, Dec 2: Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo on Monday urged the universities of Jammu and Kashmir to link courses with industry demands.

Holding a meeting with all the Vice Chancellors and heads of line departments to expedite the resolution of issues faced by different universities functioning here, the chief secretary seized this occasion to impress upon the VC of these varsities to follow the pattern of placements their students can fetch once they complete their courses. He suggested creating online platforms for this purpose as this would guide in developing relevant skilling courses based on the feedback of both industry and alumni.

Dulloo advised them to develop crash courses for capacity building of the government employees working in different departments. He also asked for taking documentation initiatives about the ideas of innovations, patents or start-ups emanating from these higher educational institutions of J&K.

Taking an assessment of the issues faced by these institutions, the chief secretary impressed upon the line departments to make concerted efforts in coordination with the universities to iron out issues hindering their process of development.

He took university-wise stock of issues faced by these institutions and took up these issues with the concerned departments for their early resolution. He also provided instant directions necessary for making the process swift and time-bound.

The issues that were raised by the universities included those related to land transfer, creation of posts, seeking additional Capex grants, augmentation of existing infrastructure, and construction of hostel blocks along with several other individual necessities of these institutions.

The universities which participated in this session included University of Kashmir, University of Jammu, Cluster University Srinagar, Cluster University Jammu, Central University of Kashmir, Central University of Jammu, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Islamic University of Science and Technology, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, and Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences (SKUAST) Kashmir and Jammu.

Besides the VCs, the meeting was attended by ACS, Jal Shakti Department; Principal Secretary, Finance; Principal Secretary, APD; Commissioner Secretary, Higher Education; Secretary, PWD; Secretary, Health; MD, JPDCL; MD, KPDCL and DG Codes.