After Losing NAAC Accreditation, KU Denied Rs 150 Cr By MHRD

Srinagar: The Kashmir University is not receiving any funds from the Ministry of Human Resource Development as the it has failed to acquire National Assessment and Accreditation Council accreditation since 2016.

The NAAC accreditation is renewed after every five years to all universities across India. Based on this accreditation, the universities get the MHRD funding based on the rankings.

However, the varsity has failed to get the NAAC accreditation after the earlier one expired in June 2016.

Although, the NAAC team recently visited the varsity but are yet to announce the NAAC accreditation.

“So far, the university is without NAAC accreditation. The university could not qualify for government of India grant over Rs 150 crore since 2016. As a result, the functioning of work has been affected,” a varsity source said.

The source said that an institution having NAAC accreditation becomes eligible for MHRD’s funds for development of the institution.

The source said that university authorities also hiked the fee admission as it was struggling with fund shortage.

“Former vice chancellor hiked the fee structure almost 50 percent to overcome financial constraints since 2016, as the varsity is run on state government funding and funds generated through students fees,” the source said.

In 2011, the NAAC granted A+ grade to Kashmir University and was also being mentioned on its documents.

Some of the universities also give admissions to students on the rankings of institutions.

“NAAC accreditation gives better chances to get admissions or jobs outside the state,” the source said.

NAAC is an organization that assesses and accredits higher education institutions in India. It was formed after recommendations from National Policy on education (1986), which laid emphasis on upholding the quality of higher education in India.

A senior official of the varsity said KU is not receiving MHRD funds after NAAC accreditation expired in 2016.

“The MHRD funds are linked to NAAC accreditation and funds are provided according to the grading. We hope the NAAC announce the NAAC accreditation very soon,” he added. (ET)