Open mode entry for admission to PG courses as per UGC SOP: CUK

Srinagar, Oct 8: The Central University of Kashmir (CUK) has issued a rebuttal in response to a recent news report titled “CUK again floats open mode entry for PG courses as admissions dip.”

The CUK has strongly contested the accuracy of the claims made in the report asserting that they are not grounded in factual information and may present an inaccurate view of the university.

In a statement it said, the concerned reporter has claimed that “there are few takers from the CUK’s academic programmes,” which is totally false.

“The admission process in most of the departments is nearing completion and the open admission call has been made, through the advertisements as there are strict directions from the UGC to fill up all the vacant seats,” it said.

The University said that the UGC has circulated “Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for Central Universities to fill up the vacant seats,” and has directed all the Central Universities not to keep any of the seats vacant.

The letter reads: “To keep the seats vacant for an entire academic year is not only a waste of resources, but also results in denial of quality higher education to many students who aspire to pursue higher studies in Central Universities. Hence, the Commission its 572nd Meeting, held on 20th September, 2023, has approved a set Standard Operating Procedures for all the Central Universities to fill up the vacant seats.”

“The Central University of Kashmir, proactively followed the SOP in order to fill up the vacant seats in few disciplines and as the author has claimed, that there are few takers for the academic programmes, the sentence is fully opinionated, rather than based on the facts.”

“The CUK is not only the lone university calling for open admission. Even the state run universities have also invited applications for open admission. The same is situation for most of the universities in the country, that is why the UGC has issued the directions. It may be noted that in no case is university going to admit ineligible students, it is only mode of admission that has been relaxed to ensure the best get chance, who may have for some reason missed the entrance test. Merit will be the only criteria for admission,” the statement said.

The university is still the choicest destination for the aspirants as it has been successful in providing quality education and completing the degrees within the stipulated time frame, it said.

“Furthermore, the concerned reporter claims that he had tried to contact Vice-Chancellor, to get the quote about the story stating that “Vice Chancellor CUK, Prof A Ravinder Nath was not available for his comments on the issue. If the Vice-Chancellor was unavailable for the comment, the concerned reporter could have called Prof. Shahid Rasool, Director MPRC, Dr Tanveer Director Admissions or the undersigned to get the official version from the university.”