Mehbooba Mufti fears ‘institutional abandonment’ of Baba Ghulam Shah University

Srinagar:Former J&K Chief Minister and president of the opposition of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mehbooba Mufti, on Thursday alleged ‘deliberate and sustained depletion of funds to Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU) in J&K’s Rajouri district’.

Mehbooba Mufti has strongly condemned the alleged sustained and deliberate depletion of funds to Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU), Pir Panjal, warning that the institution is being pushed towards managed decline through systematic neglect.

“What was conceived as a beacon of higher education and a driver of social and economic transformation in Pir Panjal is now facing institutional abandonment,” Mehbooba Mufti said.

She said official figures on capital infusion to BGSBU reveal a disturbing downward trajectory over the years. Funding stood at Rs 562.50 lakh in 2019–20, rose to Rs 848.43 lakh in 2020–21 and Rs 703.88 lakh in 2021–22, before declining sharply to Rs 422.98 lakh in 2022–23, Rs183.11 lakh in 2023–24, and a shockingly low Rs 44.00 lakh in 2024–25.

The marginal increase to Rs 187.00 lakh in 2025–26, she said, does little to undo the damage caused by years of underfunding.

“These figures expose a shocking pattern of neglect. Capital infusion that once crossed Rs 700–800 lakh during 2020–22 has been slashed to a mere Rs 44 lakh in 2024–25. This is not budgetary prudence. It is deliberate institutional abandonment,” she stated.

Mehbooba Mufti reminded that BGSBU was established by former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to uplift a historically marginalised and strategically important region through access to quality higher education.

“The repeated curtailment of funds is steadily hollowing out the university’s academic capacity, research ecosystem, and infrastructure. Weakening institutions through neglect is as damaging as shutting them down,” she said.

She called upon the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to urgently acknowledge this sustained depletion and reverse the trend in the upcoming budget, cautioning that continued neglect could cause irreparable damage to one of Pir Panjal’s most significant institutions.

In a post on X, Mehbooba Mufti said: “Deeply troubling to see the steady depletion of funds to Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University in Pir Panjal. From over Rs 700–800 lakh in 2020–22 to a shocking Rs 44 lakh in 2024–25, this is not fiscal tightening; it is institutional abandonment. BGSBU was founded to uplift a marginalised region. Starving it of funds betrays that vision and must be urgently corrected,” she alleged.

IANS