By Sheikh Umar Ahmad

When Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University opened in 2002, it changed what the Pir Panjal region imagined for itself.

Families in Rajouri and Poonch had waited for a place where their children could study without leaving home or settling for limited options.

Late Prof. Masud Choudhary believed a university on those hills could bridge generations of distance from opportunity. The early years reflected that belief.

New buildings came up, classrooms filled, and the campus carried an energy that touched the entire border belt.

The story today carries a different mood. A university once built to empower a region is struggling to stand on its feet.

A recent RTI reply revealed that more than half of all sanctioned teaching posts remain empty. All 22 professor posts are unoccupied. Only two associate professors are in place out of 50 sanctioned positions. Departments depend on 80 assistant professors and 17 lecturers, many working on temporary contracts.

This kind of shortage drains the academic culture of a university. Research slows, students lose mentors, and courses become shells of what they should be.

The administrative........

© Kashmir Observer