To end the stalemate over setting up a central university in Jammu and Kashmir, the Union government is learnt to have given the go-ahead to a two university/twin campus formula, according to highly placed sources in the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry.

This means that two universities/twin campuses will come up in the state — one each in Jammu and Srinagar — instead of one, as demanded by protesting factions in the state.

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal is soon expected to make an announcement to this effect along with an education package of sorts for the state. A site for the IIM in the state is also likely to be announced, a decision which has again been pending owing to the location controversies raging in the northern state.

With location becoming a political hot potato and demands by several segments that the central varsity should be set up in Srinagar instead of Jammu as was originally planned, this novel formula has been drafted. The state has been faced with angry protests in both Srinagar and Jammu over the issue.

While the HRD Ministry’s site selection committee found Jammu more suitable for the varsity’s location and Srinagar was being considered for the IIM, regional politics has led to angry protests on both sides. The PDP has been demanding twin campuses for quite some time now while targeting Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for failing to get the deal through the Centre.

At a meeting with HRD Minister Kapil Sibal last month, Omar had suggested a twin campus/university system be permitted for the state and facilitated through an amendment to the Central Universities Bill. The Indian Express had earlier reported how a twin campus formula with two Pro V-Cs handling them was being seriously considered by the ministry.

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