Why Ladakh Requires a University

 

1.    Ladakh is spread over more than 100,000 square kilometers and people here live in remote and desolate mountain valleys; many of them are located above 400 meters from sea level. It is one of the highest places on earth with average altitude being above 13,000 feet. Major sub-regions and the Valleys of Ladakh such as Zanskar, Drass, Suru, Nubra-Shayok, Indus Valley and Rupsho-Changthang plateau remain relatively separated from each other due to topographical reasons. The entire region remain cut off within and with the outside for over 7 months. The lack of higher educational facilities has kept Ladakh economically backward. Not a single industry exists despite vast natural and mineral resources. Lack of development has resulted in population displacement, migration leading to shrinking of economic activities in border areas. This Eastern Ladakh has already become vulnerable to external threat.

 

2.    Since independence, Ladakh remained hamstrung by the absence of educational facilities. There has been no scope for even secondary education primarily due to neglect by the State government. As a result, aspiring students from the region, for decades have been travelling to Srinagar or Jammu for higher education including for medical and engineering courses. In fact, generations of our people had to undergo this hardship which was compounded by the lack of funding for their sustenance outside their native region.

3.    Since the time of independence, the population of Ladakh registered a steep growth and so did the number of students aspiring for higher education. In the absence of a university, the young undergraduate and graduate students are compelled to seek admission in institutions outside the region including in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi and Uttrakhand. This puts them under acute financial and emotional stress and constraints. This is more so for girl students who undergo constant harassment and social abuse during their college life in other cities.

4.    More than 30,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from Ladakh study programs in business and information technology, communication and design, education, health, agriculture, humanities and social sciences, and science and engineering outside the region. This reflects the regional demand for educational degrees.

5.    A university is also required to cater to our regional economic development, to develop areas of agricultural skill development, entrepreneurship, tourism and sustainability. It should engage in teaching, research and extension in the related field of studies. Only a separate and dedicated university could serve as a catalyst to churn out trained human resources and productive regional workforce needed to boost the region’s capacity building. We need to have qualified and more satisfying careers and good middle-class jobs and only a university can stem the brain drain of students who leave for colleges and universities outside and don’t return home. This young population is required to come back and work in Ladakh to mitigate the demographic decline in sensitive frontier areas that are becoming vulnerable to external incursions.

6.    In response to the region’s needs and also in the backdrop of Ladakh’s unique geographical location, a university here could specialize itself in research activities for example in the areas of Mountain Studies, Environmental Studies, Climate Change Studies, Glacier and Water Studies, Geology, Sustainability and other field of sciences, which can add values to higher studies programs in India. The university could join research collaboration with other universities on topics of regional, national and international significance. Considering its high-altitude location, a university in Ladakh can even draw students and researchers from other countries to study highly specialized subjects.

7.    The university could have specialized faculties such as Nursing Science, Primary Education, Sport and Exercise Science, Meditation and Yoga Studies etc as part of degree programs. 

8.    The University could also help the country promote sporting facilities; including the stadium and fields for ice hockey, ice-skating, mountaineering, rock-climbing that are also required to train our armed forces and border paramilitary forces. 

9.    Many projects by staff and students would benefit the region directly, for example, preservation of the environment, mitigation of climate change, conservation of glaciers, and promotion of sustainable tourism industry in the Himalayas. It can also play a key role in meeting the goals in the areas of skills development, knowledge dissemination, and support for social and cultural infrastructure.

Long Demand

We have had student movements within Ladakh, led by SECMOL that consistently focused on the demand for expansion of opportunities for higher education and having a university of our own. However, it seems the demands for a separate university have invariably met with political and bureaucratic opposition from Kashmir. The previous (UPA) government too did not heed our demand despite repeated plea. In 2006, the union government had decided to establish two central universities in J&K. Of them, one was set up in Kashmir and the other was set up in Jammu. The two regions already had a number of state-run universities including agriculture universities, medical and engineering colleges.

Government of India should quickly consider setting up of a central university in Ladakh, which would go a long way in addressing many of the economic, social and educational difficulties faced by the people of the region. This could be a first step if at all the government is seriously thinking about empowering Ladakh.