Liaison officers to be positioned in major cities to assist Jammu and Kashmir students

The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday approved positioning of designated liaison officers in 10 major cities across the country to assist students of the state pursuing higher education there.

The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of State Administrative Council (SAC), which was chaired by Governor Satya Pal Malik, an official spokesman said.

The SAC approved positioning of designated liaison officers of state government in New Delhi, Noida, Chandigarh, Aligarh, Bhopal, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Jaipur to coordinate with students of the state pursuing higher education there, whenever they are faced with the situations related to regional identity,” the spokesman said.

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He said around 20,000 students of the state are pursuing higher studies in various colleges in other states. This year around 3,820 students got admission to various undergraduate courses.

Since 2012, Jammu and Kashmir students have availed opportunities to obtain admission in colleges outside the state for undergraduate courses under the Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS).

The liaison officers positioned in these major cities would report directly to the resident commissioner, Jammu and Kashmir at New Delhi and coordinate with him and the state government regarding issues faced by the students, the spokesman said.

He said the higher education department would be the overall coordinating department in the state government.

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Each location will have a help centre, a temporary office with basic facilities, including telephone and internet, the spokesman said, adding the details about the ‘help centres’ would be widely published.?

Student’s wherever necessary would be engaged as assistant liaison officers, on a stipend or honorarium, he said.

He said liaison officers in major cities would give the state students greater sense of safety and security.

This would also remove apprehension among students keen to take up studies outside the state, the spokesman said.