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3 min readJammuUpdated: Feb 18, 2026 08:22 PM IST
The government admitted that lack of infrastructure and inadequate teaching faculty are major challenges at the campuses. In her written response, Itoo said there was a staff shortage in all except the Kathua campus. (Source: File)
Four Jammu University off-site campuses approved 18 years ago have yet to become functional, the government has admitted.
To a question posed by BJP’s Ramnagar MLA Dr Sunil Bhardwaj, J&K’s Health and Education Minister Sakeena Itoo said that of Jammu University’s 11 off-site campuses, seven — Bhaderwah, Kishtwar, Udhampur, Reasi, Ramnagar, Kathua, and Poonch — are functional. Meanwhile, the proposed campuses in Patnitop, Surankote, Billawar and Doda — approved by the university council in 2008 — have yet to take off.
“While the Bhaderwah and Kathua campuses were established in 2006, Udhampur campus came up in 2007, followed by Kishtwar, Poonch, Reasi and Ramnagar (2008),” Itoo said.
The government admitted that lack of infrastructure and inadequate teaching faculty are major challenges at the campuses. In her written response, Itoo said there was a staff shortage in all except the Kathua campus.
While the Poonch campus had two vacant posts for Gojri and Pahari language, Reasi and Ramnagar campuses each had vacancies in sociology and one in commerce. Meanwhile, the Bhaderwah campus, which was offering courses in management studies, computer science, English, earth science, life science and economics, had all five of its associate professor posts vacant, the minister said.
Speaking about the vacancies, Itoo said ad hoc teachers were being used to bridge the staff gap, adding: “A proposal for creation of the posts of Rector/Director and other teaching positions in respect of these functional off site campuses is under examination in the Higher Education Department”.
As other BJP members — including Balwant Singh Mankotia, R S Pathania, Daleep Singh Parihar and Shakti Raj Parihar — also questioned the minister, she admitted that 18 years “is a long time to make functional all the offsite campuses and to provide them all the required infrastructure including teaching faculty”.
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“It is unfortunate that it did not happen,” she said. “However, instead of indulging in the blame game as to what has been done during the past 18 years, I will only say that during the last 12 months Omar Abdullah government has been in office, the higher education department is making all the efforts to ensure the requisite infrastructure at all these places in Jammu and Kashmir.”
She said the higher education department had allocated a consolidated grant-in-aid of Rs 260 crore to Jammu University for the current fiscal, 2025–26.
“The grant-in-aid was released in lump sum by the higher education department and it is not earmarked campus-wise, or academic programme wise,” Itoo said.
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