Transfers leave satellite campuses understaffed, Kashmir University employees allege

Employees say transfers to locations closer to home have left some satellite campuses short of teaching and administrative staff

Srinagar: The University of Kashmir has come under criticism from students and employees who allege that the transfer of staff from satellite campuses to locations closer to their residences has left several departments understaffed and affected academic and administrative functioning.

Employees claim that several teaching and non-teaching positions are created specifically for satellite campuses, but some staff members later secure transfers to campuses nearer to their homes, creating vacancies and increasing pressure on the remaining workforce.

An employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity, alleged that three assistant professors of Arabic were appointed for the University’s Kupwara Campus in 2025 after returning from the University of Ladakh.

“Only two of them joined the campus. One has not reported for duty at the Kupwara Campus to date despite drawing salary from the university,” the employee alleged. 

Director of the Kupwara Campus, Mubashir Masoodi, confirmed that only two of the three assistant professors had joined the campus but did not comment on the reasons behind the third faculty member’s absence.

At the South Campus, a faculty member, also speaking anonymously, questioned the decision to assign the additional charge of Mission YUVA coordinator to a faculty member from the Department of Management Studies, who is already serving as coordinator of the NewGen IEDC.

“The additional responsibility affects teaching at the South Campus. We fail to understand why the charge was assigned to a faculty member from the South Campus when several faculty members in the same discipline are available at the main campus,” the faculty member said.

The same faculty member alleged that in 2022 an assistant professor from the Department of Education was transferred to the North Campus because it was closer to the faculty member’s residence, which allegedly contributed to a decline in enrolment in the Education programme at the South Campus.

Concerns were also raised about the transfer of a field assistant from the Landscape Division.

According to a senior faculty member at the South Campus, the employee was shifted to the Main Campus in 2023 for three months after submitting an affidavit undertaking to return.

However, the faculty member alleged that the employee never returned and that landscape maintenance responsibilities were subsequently assigned to a non-professional employee.

“There are already two Landscape Supervisors at the Main Campus. We fail to understand why our Field Assistant continues to be retained there,” the faculty member said.

A senior faculty member from the North Campus in Baramulla alleged that a programmer from the campus had also been shifted to the Examination Block at the Main Campus without any clear explanation.

Free Press Kashmir contacted the University of Kashmir for a response to the allegations.

Registrar Professor Naseer Iqbal acknowledged that staffing concerns had been brought to his attention and said the matter would be examined.

He confirmed that a faculty member from the Department of Management Studies had been assigned duties at the Main Campus and said the faculty member would return to the South Campus upon completion of the assignment.

However, he rejected the allegation that faculty members were being transferred from satellite campuses solely for personal convenience.

Professor Iqbal said that technicians and non-teaching employees are transferred between campuses depending on institutional requirements.

“We are conscious of the academic needs of our satellite campuses, and wherever gaps exist, we will address them accordingly,” Professor Iqbal told Free Press Kashmir.

The university administration has not announced any formal review of staffing patterns across its satellite campuses.