Once again the debate regarding education and religion has intensified in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir. PDP President and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has seriously accused the present government of discriminating against educational institutions on the basis of religion. He said that Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU) is being continuously and deliberately cut funds. Due to which the university is suffering serious losses.

Baba Ghulam Shah University, located in Rajouri district of Pir Panjal region, was established by the J&K government as a state university in 2002. It was registered by the University Grants Commission and more than 2500 students study in its different faculties. But Mehbooba Mufti warned that the institution was being systematically neglected and pushed towards managed decline. He said that due to systematic reduction in funds given by the UT administration in the last five years, its existence is under serious threat.

There is a worrying decline in the funding of BGSBU – Mehbooba Mufti

Mehbooba Mufti said that the one who was considered a light of higher education in Pir Panjal and a bringer of social and economic change, is now being abandoned institutionally. Official data on capital infusion into BGSBU shows that there has been an alarming decline in funding over the last few years.

The funding was Rs 562.50 lakh in 2019-20, which increased to Rs 848.43 lakh in 2020-21 and Rs 703.88 lakh in 2021-22. Then it dropped sharply to Rs 422.98 lakh in 2022-23, to Rs 183.11 lakh in 2023-24 and to a shockingly low Rs 44.00 lakh in 2024-25. He said the nominal increase of Rs 187.00 lakh in 2025-26 is too little to repair the damage caused by years of underfunding.

University infrastructure is becoming hollow due to lack of funds – Mehbooba Mufti

Mehbooba Mufti alleged that these figures show a shocking pattern of neglect. Capital infusion which had crossed Rs 700-800 lakh during 2020-22. It has been reduced to only Rs 44 lakh in 2024-25. This is not budget wise. This is a deliberate abandonment of the institutional.

Mehbooba Mufti reminded that BGSBU was established by former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to uplift the historically marginalized and strategically important sector through access to good quality higher education. He said that repeated cuts in funds are continuously hollowing out the academic capacity, research ecosystem and infrastructure of the university. Weakening institutions by ignoring them is as harmful as closing them.

BGSBU was established to uplift a backward area – Mehbooba Mufti

The PDP Chief appealed to the Jammu and Kashmir Government to immediately accept this persistent shortcoming and reverse this trend in the coming budget and warned that continued neglect could cause irreparable damage to one of the most important institutions of Pir Panjal. Mehbooba Mufti said in a post on X that BGSBU was established to uplift a backward area. Depriving it of funds is a betrayal of that vision and should be corrected immediately.

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Every year lakhs of students in India graduate from colleges and universities with degrees. It is expected that as soon as they complete their studies, they will get a good job and they will be able to make a strong start to their career. However, the reality seems different from this. Recently, a new report by TeamLease EdTech has exposed the truth of India’s higher education system, which has raised serious questions about the growing gap between education and employment.

I am getting a degree but not a job.

According to the report, about 75 percent of India’s higher education institutions (colleges and universities) are failing to provide industry-friendly i.e. job-ready skills to their students. This means that students earn a degree but do not have the practical skills that today’s employers need. The title of this report is From Degree Factories to Employment Centers, which in itself indicates that many institutions are only engaged in distributing degrees and not in preparing students for employment.

Weak role of institutions in providing employment

The figures of the report show how worrying the situation is. There are only 16.67 percent institutions which are able to provide jobs to 76 to 100 percent of their students within six months of graduation. This figure is disappointing even for those institutions which claim to provide better placements.

Big gap between industry and education

In today’s time, it is very important for education to be linked to industry, but reports show that this is happening in very few places. Only 8.6 percent of the institutions believed that their courses were completely in line with the needs of the industry. At the same time, more than 51 percent of the institutions clearly said that their courses have no coordination with the industry. According to Shantanu Rooj, Founder and CEO of TeamLease EdTech, this situation shows the deep gap between aspirations and ground reality. He even said that India’s higher education system is structurally weak in achieving its set goals.

Lack of industry experts in classes

The report also revealed that the participation of experienced professionals from the industry in colleges is very less. Only 7.56 percent institutions have included Professor of Practice in many courses. The effect of this is that most students do not get a proper understanding of real-world jobs, changing roles and ways of working. In today’s time, companies give importance not only to degrees but also to recognized industry certificates. But the report shows that more than 60 percent of the institutions never considered including such certificates in their curriculum. This leaves students graduating without skills that employers can immediately recognize and value.

Severe lack of internship and practical experience

Internships and experiential learning play a vital role in job preparation. But here also the situation is weak. Only 9.4 percent of institutes have compulsory internship for all courses. At the same time, there is no arrangement for internship in 37.8 percent institutions. Moreover, live industry projects, in which students work on real problems, are conducted only in 9.68 percent of the institutions. Due to these shortcomings, a large number of students enter the job market without any practical experience. In such a situation, the journey from classroom to workplace becomes very difficult for them.

Alumni network is also weak

The report also states that colleges are not able to properly utilize their alumni networks, whereas this can be a strong link between industry and institutions. Only 5.44 percent institutions reported that they had an active alumni network. This leaves opportunities for mentorship, referrals and informal recruitment quite limited.

Report Recommendations

The report clearly states that industry-relevant curriculum, mandatory internships and formal partnerships with employers should all be considered a necessary condition, not optional. The report warns that if changes are not made in time, a crisis may arise in India, where the number of degrees will be many, but employment opportunities will be less. This imbalance will not only harm the future of the students, but will also have a negative impact on the country’s economy.

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