New Delhi, Feb 9: In order to mitigate the difficulty of students from Jammu and Kashmir in finding appropriate accommodation in Delhi during their studies, the Jammu and Kashmir Government today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) to provide accommodation to 400 students from Jammu and Kashmir at PG, Graduate and School level in JMI.
 The MoU was signed by the Commissioner Secretary Higher Education, Tanveer Jahan, on behalf of the State Government and Registrar JMI, S. M. Sajjad and Union Joint Secretary (K), Ministry of Home Affairs, K. Skandan in presence of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, Union Minister for Home Affairs, P. Chidambaram, Union Education Secretary and Vice Chancellor JMI.
 The Government of Jammu and Kashmir will release a sum of Rs 16.22 crore to JMI in installments to finance the construction of hostel building including appropriate furniture and fixtures in JMI Campus to enable JMI to provide accommodation to 400 students from the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The amount so released by Jammu and Kashmir shall be reimbursed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The land for the hostel will be provided by the JMI within its campus.
 A Committee of representatives of MHA, Government of Jammu and Kashmir and JMI shall review the progress of the project and the recommendations of the said Committee shall guide the construction and its accomplishment.
 The project will be completed within 24 months from the date of commencement of the construction. The 400 students from Jammu and Kashmir to be accommodated in the hostel will only be those admitted to the JMI University and its affiliated schools and for that purpose the concerned Hostel Committee of JMI shall include a representative from the Jammu and Kashmir State Government (Education Department) while allotting hostel accommodation to the students.
 Lauding the effort to provide hostel facility to the students, Chidambaram said that it was part of the steps being taken by the UPA Government to enhance the confidence building measures for the people of the State. He felicitated Abdullah and the University authorities for taking up the project which he said was of utmost importance to provide higher education to students of J&K.
 On his part, Omar Abdullah said that this step will not only help in providing accommodation but also assist in further integration of the students from J&K into the national mainstream.
 The Chief Minister has flagged education sector as one of the important concerns in the State’s policy planning and accessibility of higher education to the people in far-flung and remote areas is receiving considerable fillip. The Chief Minister is keen to see the students of the State attaining excellence in different fields of modern science and technology in various higher educational institutions in the State and outside. The need of such accommodation for the students of Jammu and Kashmir was being felt for long time now. The initiative in this direction taken by the Omar-led Government would fulfill this requirement to a greater extent.
 Presently different subjects in the higher and technical educational fields are being taught in 73 Government Degree Colleges in the State, of which 23 have been sanctioned during this year. Other institutions in Government sector include one Government Engineering College at Jammu, one National Institute of Technology at Srinagar besides 142 B.Ed Colleges, 3 M.Ed Colleges, 20 Degree Colleges, 3 PG course Colleges, 35 BCA Colleges, 4 MCA Colleges, 31 BBA Colleges, 6 MBA Colleges, 7 Law Colleges and 3 Engineering Colleges in private sector.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 9 Feb 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 9 Feb 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 IST