New Delhi, November 2
Political points scored, the Omar Abdullah government in Jammu and Kashmir has so far failed to match its rhetoric with action on the issue of a second Central University for the state.

More than a month after the Centre allowed a second university to be set up in J&K, as a special dispensation, the state government is yet to indicate to the Union Human Resource Development Ministry the locations for two universities — one each in Jammu and Kashmir.

The delay has now put the Centre in a bind because while it exhibited urgency in the matter, and even issued an ordinance to enable the establishment of two Central varsities (normally one state can have only one university), the state government did not quite respond similarly.

The ordinance for an additional varsity in Jammu division (the existing Central university in the state will henceforth be the Central varsity of Kashmir) has been in place since October 20, when the President promulgated it, but the Department of Higher Education, J&K has not sent anything in writing to the Centre on where it would want the new campuses to come up.

For the Centre, which has already initiated the process for the selection of Jammu Central university V-C, it is now very important to move fast on the front to justify the ordinance lest the Opposition questions the hurriedness of the move.

“The winter session of the Parliament commences from November 19. We would obviously want all formalities for the two Central universities in J&K to be over by then. We have done our bit. It is now upon the state government to indicate locations so that the academic session can start from the next year. Also, the state must act fast to honour local aspirations. That was the whole purpose of having two Central varsities for the state,” said sources in the HRD Ministry.

Unless the state takes the initiative now, the Centre would be left fielding uncomfortable questions on why it chose to ignore the Parliament and issued an ordinance instead on the matter. That makes movement on this front urgent.

The state government, for its part, is yet to zero down on preferred locations, with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah learnt to be in favour of his home segment Ganderbal as the location for Kashmir University. Sopore and Pampore are the locations being considered in the Valley. In Jammu, Samba, RS Pora and Nagrota are being considered as the probable sites. The opposition PDP, meanwhile, admitted today that the state paid a huge cost for a second Central university, although the same was desirable.