Jamia to build hostel for Kashmiri students

New Delhi -  The Jamia Millia university is building a hostel for students from Jammu and Kashmir as part of confidence building measures for the people from the troubled-state.

An agreement regarding this was signed Thursday between the home ministry, the state government and the university, according to an official statement.

Built at the cost of Rs.16.22 crore, the hostel facility will accomodate 400 students of the university and its affiliated colleges and schools.

Jamia Millia has agreed to provide land for the proposed hostel to be built within the university campus.

Building funds will be released in instalments by the state government to the university. The amount will be reimbursed by the home ministry, according to the accord signed in the presence of Home Minister P. Chidambaram.

Chidambaram said "this is a very positive for providing higher education to students of Jammu and Kashmir", and congratulated Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and university vice chancellor Najeeb Jung for coming together for this project.

Abdullah said the hostel will provide accommodation and also further integration of the students from Jammu and Kashmir.

A home ministry spokesperson said the agreement "is part of the initiatives taken by the government to enhance confidence building measures for the people" of the state.

"It was felt that the students from the state find it difficult to get accommodation in the campus hostel and the adjoining areas. In order to overcome this problem of the students from Kashmir, the project was envisaged."