Former J&K Chief Minister and president of the opposition of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mehbooba Mufti, expressed alarm over the alleged deliberate reduction of funds to Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU) in J&K’s Rajouri district. Mufti criticized the declining financial support to BGSBU, warning that the university is being neglected, leading to a managed decline.
According to Mufti, the capital infusion to BGSBU has shown a concerning downward trend in recent years. The funding, which was at Rs 562.50 lakh in 2019–20, increased to Rs 848.43 lakh in 2020–21 and Rs 703.88 lakh in 2021–22, but then drastically dropped to Rs 422.98 lakh in 2022–23, Rs 183.11 lakh in 2023–24, and a mere Rs 44.00 lakh in 2024–25. Despite a slight rise to Rs 187.00 lakh in 2025–26, Mufti emphasized that this increase does not compensate for the years of underfunding.
Mufti highlighted that the continuous reduction in funds is eroding the academic capacity, research environment, and infrastructure of BGSBU. She stressed that neglecting institutions in this manner is as detrimental as shutting them down. Mufti urged the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to recognize and reverse this ongoing depletion in the university’s budget, cautioning that persistent neglect could cause irreversible harm to one of Pir Panjal’s significant educational institutions.
