The fates of 12 Kashmiri students studying in Kamrah Institute of Information Technology, Gurgaon lie in limbo. Even after completing six semesters, they are not sure that they would receive their degrees as the Central government has so far not provided funds to pay their fee.
“We belong to very poor families and we would not have thought of undergoing further studies after Class XII in any college situated outside the state of Jammu and Kashmir had we not been admitted to the college under the PMSSS,” said Sahil Bashir, a B Tech 5th semester student. He further added: “We have come against the will of our family but with what face we will go back without degrees?” These students had appealed to the court after being evicted from another private college in Faridabad in 2014 for non-payment of their dues.
This is because of the fact that All India Council for Technical Education have failed to comply with a 2014 Jammu and Kashmir high court order which directed it to pay their fees under the Prime Minister Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS). In reply of an email conversation Ruchika Bhagat, Assistant Director J&K cell of AICTE said: “Ashraf Tantary, Salad Ahmed Sofi, Tahir Malik and Sahil Bashir have scored less than 65 per cent marks which was the cut-off marks for year 2013-14. So they are not eligible for PMSSS.”