Central University of Kashmir M.Sc Review By Parvaiz Yousuf

The Central University of Kashmir is a central university that was established in March 2009 in Srinagar Kashmir, India, that offers various Undergraduate, postgraduate, and Ph.D. programs. Earlier known as Central University of Jammu and Kashmir, the university was shifted in 2019 and is currently present in District Ganderbal of Jammu and Kashmir, India, which is some 20 Kms away from Srinagar. In Ganderbal, it functions from 4 different campuses situated at four different places within the same district. These include Main Campus at Tulmulla, Science and Arts Campus at Old Hospital Building, Green Campus at Durham, and Science Campus at Lunar, Ganderbal. At this time, the University has 14 PG and UG programs whose duration varies from course to course. The university also offers integrated programs which have course duration of 5 years. In addition to this, the University also offers M.Phil, integrated M.Phil PhD as well as PhD programs under various departments. Further the minimum course duration is 3 years for these PhD programs which may be part time or full time. In addition to these degree programs, the university also offers PG diploma in many streams.

In order to apply for these courses and get admitted in the University, there is a minimum eligibility criteria which needs to be followed. For the undergraduate programs, you need to have minimum score of 50% in 10+2 exams while for a postgraduate program, you should have a minimum of 50-60% marks in your graduation. Thus, the admission process is purely made on the basis of performance of a student in his/her Common Entrance Test. One cannot get admission in the university under any circumstances, if the candidate is not able to pass the entrance exam. For the PG, courses, the admission is made on the basis of CUCET score and on the basis of performance of a candidate in JEE mains for B.Tech Admission for M.Tech is made on the basis of GATE/UGC Net/JRF/JEST exam. In case of the PhD program, selection is made on a joint criteria of Test and Merit. During admissions, the candidates must present a score card of NET/JRF/CUCET. Admissions for the PG diploma program are made on the basis of CUCET rank. The university has a good and efficient management system which are scattered at four different Campuses.

As the Campus offers a number of integrated Programs, I opted for Integrated BSc MSc zoology, which has course duration of 5 years. In the science stream, the campus offers 5-year integrated courses in Zoology, Biotechnology, Physics, Mathematics. From the current year, the campus offers courses in Botany as well as Chemistry. I was able to join the course after I cleared the CUCET in 2017 and got enrolled in the program. In order to be eligible for this exam, you need to have a minimum of 50% marks in 10+2 from a recognized board. For my course, I had to pass the CUCET, which has a maximum of 100 questions. There is an equal distribution of these marks related to subjects as you get 25 questions from Physics, 25 from chemistry, 25 from Biology and 25 from General Knowledge and Aptitude. After the test, 70 Percent weightage is given to CUCET score and 30 percent to 12th marks. Zoology is among the subjects that observe the highest cutoffs every year when compared to other subjects.

I joined this course because it is one of the courses that have a good scope in India when compared to biotechnology. Many students got admitted in this course because there were not many options that time. It is quite tough to get admission in this course when compared to other courses. When you enter the field of zoology, you have a number of options to go into when it comes to earning a livelihood. You can go into the teaching profession, research, agriculture, fisheries, apiculture, sericulture, etc. as all these subjects are a part of course. Other subjects that are offered in the course are quite valuable and useful when it comes to learning and preparing for UGC NET exams except that the botany was not available that time which I feel was a great limitation of the course. Thus, studying a wide range of subjects in this 5 year course is surely helpful as you have a lot of options to enter into after your BSc or MSc. Other courses that I have read in my course like aquaculture, Pisciculture, organic farming, Vermicomposting make you worth to go into any field that you wish, which ultimately increases the chances of one getting a job. Further, the university offers us tours as a part of curriculum which is quite useful. It exposes the student to the current happenings, relevant issues, new technologies and many other things.

The faculty in our university has a great academic knowledge and is guided by huge intellect. The standard and quality of their teaching is unparalleled and they strive hard to offer their students best. I feel like in a school where a teacher would teach me things very passionately and keenly as I know nothing. This helps students a lot as we have regular class internal exams which keep students always prepared for the end semester exam. Our teachers increase our morale to a great extent. They utilize a group of methods to make students learns and participate actively which include presentations, assignments etc. Overall the student to faculty ratio in the university is about 1:15.

However, the university does not have proper and permanent staff as well as faculty members that affect classwork. Most of the faculty is working on a contractual basis where in new teachers are hired from time to time. Even after that, I would rate the faculty 10 out of 10 as they have helped students grow like me a lot. When it comes to the Faculty of Department of Zoology, School of life Sciences, we have a total of 9 faculty members. Out of these 9 members, 4 members are permanent, other 4 are on a contractual basis and 1 is working as adjunct faculty. These faculty members include Prof. Mohd Yousuf Professor, Head Department of Zoology and Dean School of Life Sciences, Prof. M.Z. Chishti (Adjunct faculty), Prof. Mohammad Yousuf is new Dean School of Life Sciences as he joined recently. Prof. Chishti has the specialty in parasitology.

For the Central University of Kashmir, the placement records are a little low, but at the same time, the students are encouraged to take up various drives that are offered. For this University, the job opportunities and placements are above average. Proper placement training is given to the students which is conducted only after short explanation of the job posts which are offered with a pre-placement talk.

Every year, many companies visit the university campus in order to offer jobs to various students. HDFC, ITC, Earth Infrastructures Ltd, KashmirBox.com, INDI Design, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Aspiring Minds, PNB MetLife, etc are some of the top recruiters that participate in placements of Central University of Kashmir. In addition to this, many students are able to crack NET JRF exams, other government exams and are placed in prestigious government services.

The Central University of Kashmir has set up two hostels for boys and girls separately in order to provide secure, safe and affordable residential accommodation to the students who come from far flung areas of the State and rest parts of country. After the shifting of campuses from Srinagar to Ganderbal, the hostels were shifted. The boys hostel is placed in Namroze hotel which is situated on Behama-Kangan road. It is 7 storeyed building which has average comfortable rooms with no or little lawn in the front. Two to three persons are incorporated in each room on an average. The hostel has all kinds of basic amenities which make the living of the students comfortable. However, in winters it is not sufficient to stay warm inside these rooms. Other than this, the rooms have good ventilation. The hostel also possesses a Mess, Kitchen and a Dining Hall. Water purifiers are installed at various places in dining hall which makes available the drinking water to the students. In the dining room, dining tables and dining chairs are placed for the comfort of the students.

The boys hostel does not have any play ground where the students could play. In order to prevent any unpleasant happening, and keep the hostel safe and secure, the hotel is incorporated with CCTV cameras from place to place. In order to represent the students of various departments, the hostel has a managing committee which looks after the mess like menu, kitchen material etc. The hostel also encourages several harmonial activities and is located near the main market Behama Ganderbal. However, the hostel is much far from both railway station and airport. The girls hostel is located at Duderhama Ganderbal in the CMO building. It is located within the premises of Old Hospital Campus. It is comparatively smaller than boys hostel and is scattered. The facilities are same as that of boys hostel. However, it is more secure than the boys hostel and has better security arrangements including CCTV etc. The hostel has a small play ground and a park as well where hostellers are able to spend their free time. It is closer to market and Hospital than the boys hostel, with comparatively better facilities.

The campus was recently shifted from Srinagar to Ganderbal. From the beginning up to now, the university doesn’t have permanent campus. It worked from rented building in Srinagar. Also, now it is working from buildings that it does not own. The huge funding that was allotted for it is wastage till now as the officials have not been able to complete a permanent campus within 11 years even. The hostel, the campus, the library often keeps shifting from place to place which is a complete mess often. We have been shifted 3 times till now. Apart from infrastructure point of view which is a complete vice, the university is better in other parts like teaching. The University is operating from scattered places and different departments are at different places which does not give a good feeling of being in a University. In Srinagar, the Campus at Sonwar was adjacent to National highway and it was quite noisy and uncomfortable there. Now in Nuner Campus, the feeling is entirely different. It is far from the main market and is pretty quiet. Hostel facility is comparatively better than classrooms. Before shifting to Nuner Campus, we were at Old Hospital building where the rooms were shabby, very small and it had a hospital smell. However, at other campuses like green campus, Nuner Campus, the classrooms are much better. Labs are also present for each department which are yet greeting developed and shifted. New labs are coming which are much better than the small and crowded labs that we had earlier.

The wi-fi is available at all the campuses and the food served in the canteens is also fine. Smart classrooms are built in each campus which are well equipped with technology. Though a play ground is not available yet but the sports and gaming equipment like badminton, tennis, cricket equipments are available. Further, libraries are built at each campus which have a good range of books available for teachers as well as students. The library collection includes both print & digital resources. These journals include Annual Reviews, MathSciNet, Oxford University Press, Elsevier (ScienceDirect), JSTOR, Economic & Political Weekly, Springer Link and Wiley Blackwell Publishing which are published by well-renowned international publishers as well as content providers. In addition to this, there is a huge central library available at green campus. Our Nuner Campus library has all the required books and facilities which are quite costly as well. It is indeed fun studying there. Transport system is also well equipped with many buses which enhance timely carry of students as well as faculty members to the University campus. Ambulances are also present which are used to take any member to the hospital if required. Fire extinguishers are incorporated at various places in case any fire arises. Other facilities that are available include Computer/Browsing Center, Seminar Hall, Conference Hall, Stationery/Retail Outlet Units, Seminar Hall, Conference Hall, and Stationery/Retail Outlet Units. One who passes the test gets a scholarship for civil service coaching.

I feel quite lucky to be the part of this University. Despite having no permanent campus, the life is full going in the campus. The way of teaching and the support of teachers is something that I can never forget about this university. Personally, I feel like greeting the private tuitions while studying from professors in the campus. Spending 5 years at this university has been like 5 days. There is a good amount of exposure that one gets while being in the university. The University often organizes national trips and tours for the students to get more exposure. Weekly or monthly events, guest lectures from many national and international speakers regarding a number of issues has been pivotal in transforming my life. Regular events are also organized from time to time wherein student participation is encouraged.

The Women’s Day observation at all campuses of the university is the most recent one. The university officials encourage the participation of students at each level, may it be the syllabus framing, exam dates. Being a CR of my class from the beginning up to now, I have been able to notice the university more deeply in a better way. A regular interaction with the Class Representatives is something that I feel Central University does most.

Sports events like badminton matches, cricket matches are often organized wherein different departments or different colleges compete with each other with a good sportsman spirit. Personal growth is achieved at various levels depending upon the strength of a person.