Our Alma Mater Our Hope: Aspiring For Its Intellectual Growth

The Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor,

Jammu and Kashmir,

Subject: Appeal regarding preliminary survey for Baramulla-Uri railway track through the premises of Government College Baramulla

Hon’ble Sir,

We, the Alumni of Government College Baramulla, would like to bring to your attention that the preliminary survey for the Baramulla-Uri railway track conducted by the Railway Authorities has shown that the proposed railway track is planned to pass through the middle of the College ground. This alignment, if implemented, shall bisect the college premises into two parts, rendering the college ground unusable for all outdoor sports and other socio-cultural activities conducted by the college, as well as the local populace. Furthermore, this move will damage the academic ambience of this institution of excellence and disrupt its future growth.

It is pertinent to place on record that the college has been imparting quality higher education to a massive population spread over the entire Union Territory. The College is NAAC accredited Grade “A” and has been granted the status of a college with potential for excellence and autonomous status by the UGC.

The college is striving to meet the highest standards of quality advanced education and is a level A College in the process of being declared as the Multidisciplinary Education and Research University (MERU) in the near future. The college will need a huge infrastructure to render the expected educational services not only to the inhabitants of the Union Territory but also to the youth of the country.

The historical playground is a multi-facility space not only catering to the essential academic requirements of various programs being run in the college like Physical Education and Skill Development in Health and Wellness but also to the sports and wellness needs of the public at large. The facilities available in the playground and mini indoor stadium are also being utilized by other colleges and schools in the district. The playground has an outstanding history of being used not only as a venue for national-level sports events but also as a space for facilitating and inspiring many sports personalities to achieve great feats in the field of sports. The playground plays a pivotal role in streamlining the energy of the general public, particularly youth, towards wellness and thus evading their engagement in distractions and social evils, including drug abuse.

Over the decades of its public services, the college has to its credit outstanding and dynamic alumni who have been at the forefront of social transformation by contributing to the entire sphere of human endeavours and public welfare. However, the fate of the institution has not been all that rosy. It has been confronted with many problems that have invariably proved detrimental to its growth and expansion despite being over a century-old academic institution in the region.

Born in 1904 as St. Joseph’s Primary School, it was gradually upgraded to take the shape of a Degree College in 1943. The College was taken over by the State Government on 1st April 1963 and shifted to the present spectacular campus measuring about 225 Kanals of land, thoughtfully selected under the noble guidance of S. Harbans Singh Azad, the then Minister for Education, in 1967. A part of this land measuring 143 Kanals was acquired in one go at Rs. 1100/Kanal vide Collector Land Acquisition Baramulla Order No. 960/LA, dated 13-01-1968. Ownership of the land was transferred to the college except for a small segment measuring 13 Kanals and 13 Marlas belonging to the then MLA Baramulla. He went in an appeal to the District Court, which granted him relief by increasing the rate of land from Rs. 1100 to Rs. 3500 per Kanal. Challenging the judgment, the Collector Land Acquisition Baramulla went in appeal to the High Court Srinagar, which set aside the revised rate and upheld the earlier fixed Rs. 1100/Kanal vide Judgment dated 18/10/1975. The issue remains unresolved to date.

In an attempt to facilitate the transfer of ownership of the said piece of land to the College, the Higher Education Department (HED) placed Rs. 5.0 Crores at the disposal of Collector Land Acquisition Baramulla as the envisaged cost of the land and a building during 2013. However, due to the failure of the Revenue Department, this attempt went down the drain.

Foreseeing the grim repercussions on its academic progression, a cluster of organizations including Varmul College Alumni Association (VCAA), Majlis Awqaf Islami, Gurdwara Prabandak Committee, and Hindoo Mahasabah Baramulla in 2017, requested the concerned authorities to resolve the problems confronting the college. As a sequel to their efforts, HED placed an additional Rupees One Crore at the disposal of Collector Land Acquisition for compensation of the land. However, neither compensation has been paid to the landowner nor has the ownership of the land been transferred to the college till date.

This is not all. JK Armed Police set up lavatory blocks and parking vehicles in the hostel premises of the college, thereby disturbing the academic pursuits of the students for the last two decades. Youth Services and Sports Department constructed an indoor sports complex on the college estate. While the same should have been under the administrative control of the college, the occupants are running a parallel administration and harming the academic ecosystem of the institution.

Delay in the release of the remaining grant of Rs. 567 Lakhs, out of Rs. 587 Lakhs sanctioned vide Government Order No.80-HE of 2015 dated 27-3-2015 for the construction of a media block has caused severe damage to the academic careers of media students. The HED gave another death knell to the institution by withdrawing the sanctioned grant of Rupees Four Crores for the construction of an indoor stadium that would have been managed by the college itself.

It is pertinent to place on record that the splendid sports field of the college owes its existence to Major General A.K. Mehta VSM (GOC in 1980) who deployed JCB along with technical staff for about twenty days to level the land and gave us the spacious playfield. In 2004, Major General Raj Mehta, VSM, the then GOC, renovated the gutted pavilion of the mini stadium of the college. Based on his desire, the mini stadium was named “Prof Showkat Ali Mir Stadium”.

In the historical Colonel Roy plot on the east of the built-up area of the college, prestigious BCA, MCA, BBA, and B. Com departments cater to the professional development of the youth. In the middle of the Campus lies the aforementioned disputed piece of land that bisects the college campus and causes impediments to its growth.

In spite of all odds from the day of its establishment, the College has maintained a distinctive composite culture, supremacy in curricular and sports/athletic activities, and attained heights owing to contributions made by academic leaders, faculty members, and staff with the support of the administration, alumni, and civil society at large.

This is the first Higher Education Institution in J&K to have started BCA in 2001, MCVP in 2002, MCA in 2003, a three-year degree course in Mass Communication and Multimedia (MCMP) in 2004, and PG Math in 2005. It is the only college in J&K that was sanctioned National Channel of Educational Satellite (EDUSAT) among 58 institutions of excellence in the country, including Universities, IITs, and three undergraduate colleges in 2005. The College made a distinction by being consecutively accredited with Grade A by the NAAC Bangalore, Potential for Excellence followed by Autonomous Status by the UGC.

The institution had not come out of its sufferings when the Northern Railways came up with the proposal that was detrimental to the health of the institution. If implemented, the contributions made towards the growth and development of this Higher Education Institution by eminent personalities including Shri S. Harbans Singh Azad, Maj. General A. K. Mehta, and Maj. General Raj Mehta, besides academic leaders, faculty, and staff, will be washed off.

The college alumni, being an association of responsible citizenry, well-chiselled and churned out by their Alma mater, tried to explore and think over alternate proposals. The association proposes to consider the construction of the Baramulla-Uri railway track on the right side of River Jehlum, keeping in view the strength of the soil and the minimum dislocation of inhabitants.

Honourable Sir, in light of the aforementioned facts, the alumni of the college appeal to you to direct the Railway Authorities to look for a suitable alternate route for the said railway track and spare the college premises, as the proposed step, if implemented, will cause unwarranted damage to the academic ambience of this institution of excellence and thereby to the youth in particular and the society in general. We also appeal to your noble self to direct the concerned authorities to transfer possession of the aforesaid piece of land (13 Kanals & 13 Marlas) to the college and release the already sanctioned grants for the construction of the media block and indoor stadium to the college.

Yours Faithfully,

Prof Mohammad Ismail, President VCAA

Email ID: [email protected]

Manzoor Hussain Bukhari, Secretary VCAA

Contact No: 6005265400

Dr Irshad Ahmad Wani, Member VCAA

Email ID: [email protected]

Dr Nazir Ahmad Sheikh, Member VCAA

Email ID: [email protected]