Lieutenant Governor chairs J&K Higher Education Council meeting, set a six-month deadline for Universities in Jammu Kashmir to roll out the “Design Your Degree” program

• The time has now come to translate Higher Education Council initiatives into tangible achievements, while ensuring that every student benefits from outcome-oriented asset utilization: LG Sinha

JAMMU: Lieutenant Governor Shri Manoj Sinha on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting of Jammu Kashmir Higher Education Council (JKHEC), at Lok Bhavan. The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Shri Omar Abdullah; Minister for School Education Department, Higher Education Department, Jal Shakti Department, Ms. Shamim Firdous; Vice Chairman, J&K Higher Education Council, Prof. Dinesh Singh; Acting Chief Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department, Shri Shailendra Kumar; Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor, Shri Govind Jaiswal; Commissioner Secretary; Higher Education Department, Shri Ram Niwas Sharma; Vice Chancellor, University of Jammu, Prof. Umesh Rai; VC Kashmir University, Prof. Nilofer Khan; VC, IUST, Prof. Shakil Ahmad Romshoo; VC SMVDU, Prof. Pragati Kumar; VC SKUAST Kashmir, Prof. Nazir Ahmad Ganai; VC SKUAST Jammu, Prof. BN Tripathi; VC Central University of Kashmir, Prof. A. Ravinder Nath; VC Central University of Jammu, Prof. Sanjeev Jain; VC BGSBU, Prof. Jawaid Iqbal; VC Cluster University Jammu, Dr. K. S. Chandrasekar; VC Cluster University Srinagar, Prof. Mohammad Mobin; Director IIT Jammu, Prof Manoj Singh Gaur; Director IIM Jammu, Prof. B.S. Sahay; Director NIT Srinagar, Prof Anurag Misra; Prof Kavi Arya from IIT Bombay; Director, Cluster Innovation Centre Delhi University, Ms Shobha Bagai, and other members.

The Council met under the leadership of the Lieutenant Governor to chart a forward-looking roadmap for higher education. Discussions focussed on advancing academic excellence, fostering a culture of research and innovation, and strategically aligning institutions to meet future challenges and leverage emerging opportunities. The key agendas included sharing of academic credit and resources and recasting UG and PG programmes in the light of Design Your Degree and National Education Policy 2020. The meeting further discussed the modalities to set up a Task Force for integrating AI (Machine Learning, Deep Learning) and Data science into UG and PG programmes.

 To drive academic reform, the Lieutenant Governor set a six-month deadline for universities in Jammu Kashmir to roll out the “Design Your Degree” program. Emphasising a spirit of collaboration, he urged institutions to share academic credits, research laboratories, and resources. “Transforming higher education in Jammu Kashmir into a comprehensive, holistic, and visionary system is a shared responsibility. The time has now come to translate Higher Education Council initiatives into tangible achievements, while ensuring that every student benefits from outcome-oriented asset utilization,” the Lieutenant Governor said.

Stressing the need for stronger intra-university collaboration, the Lieutenant Governor noted that successful implementation relies on deep-rooted institutional reform and a solid long-term strategy. The Lieutenant Governor emphasised the integration of artificial intelligence and modern technology into learning programmes, stressing the need to pioneer frontier technologies. He also highlighted that these programs must incorporate local languages and cultures.

Prof. Dinesh Singh, Vice Chairman, JKHEC called for policy directives to align undergraduate and postgraduate curricula with the ‘Design Your Degree’ framework. Vice Chancellors and members of the Council shared their inputs for advancing the DYD program and NEP 2020 interventions. The Council also reviewed the progress of ongoing Higher Education initiatives, Engineering Kitchens and Entrepreneurship programmes, and Budgetary outlay and Reform of the Fund Allocation Mechanism.