Srinagar, Government degree colleges in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir face a significant shortage of hostel accommodations, leading to increasing concerns among the student population.

According to a news release by Kashmir Media Service, the deficit of hostel rooms has posed a significant challenge for college administrations. The current method of allotting hostel rooms is based on students’ scores in the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), causing unequal access to this crucial facility.

Earlier this year, the Higher Education Department (HED) decided to use CUET scores as the primary basis for undergraduate admissions. Additionally, local Kashmiri students who could not sit for the CUET exam were still granted admissions in their nearby colleges.

With the new academic year beginning, a large influx of students, including those from areas outside Kashmir, were given hostel accommodations in Kashmir colleges primarily due to the distance between their homes and their educational institutions. This system has unfortunately left many local students from frontier districts without hostel rooms, even when they have been placed in colleges far from their homes.

Muzaffar Ahmad, a parent from Sopore, expressed his concerns, stating, “While a student from Poonch might get a hostel room in a Srinagar college due to distance, it doesn’t mean a student from Kupwara shouldn’t also be given similar accommodations in the same college.”

Another parent voiced his apprehensions, urging the authorities to devise alternative methods to ensure local students aren’t left without hostel accommodations.

Addressing the mounting concerns, an official noted that the current system of hostel allotment was based on geo-tagging to determine distance, but acknowledged the pressing need to address the shortage for all students.