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| HISTORY |
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 Inception |
 The Department of Urdu came into existence in the year 1965 as a full fledged Department of the Jammu Division of erstwhile University of Jammu & Kashmir. Prof.Gian Chand Jam, internationally known Scholar of Urdu language was the first Head of the Department.Later, Dr.S.L.Kalra and Dr. I. U.Manzer Azmi also joined the Department on 08-08-1967 and 09-09-1967 respectively
Precarious Existance
At the initial stages existence of the Department was threatened by the non-availability of students and scholars. The situation was so grim that in 1965 when the Department came into existence, it had only one student on rolls. The University Council had, therefore, to allow the Department to run its classes in the evening. This shift to evening timings though increased, the number of students considerably, yet its life remained still precarious owing to the general impression that Urdu Department had no regular day students available for its various programmes. Thus the teachers and the students had to work very hard for creating environment conducive to the growth of the Department.
Activities gather momentum
With the passage of time besides normal Post-Graduate teaching the research activities also gained momentum and in 1972 the first Scholar of the Department i.e. now Prof. Zahur-ud-Din, earned the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Jammu which had become a full fledged University in 1969, under the Kashmir and JammuUniversities Act, 1969. In 1972 itself another teacher, Dr.Zahur-ud-Din, joined the Department as Lecturer. The total strength of the teaching faculty thus rose to 4. Initially the Department was housed in one room of the Chemistiy Block on the Old Campus but by 1969 the Department was allotted independent accommodation at the newly constructed language Block on the same Campus. These developments not only helped Teaching Faculty to augment their academic programme but also created confidence among the people of the region about its lasting existence which also increased the strength of scholars and students in the Department. |
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| Shift to normal Office Hours |
| All these activities created a very conducive atmosphere to the growth of the Department and hence by the end of I 970s frequent demands were received from the students and the people of the Region at large for reversal of its working hours from evening to morning. Hence, around 1980 the Department again shifted to the normal working hours thus falling in line with the rest
of the University community. Since, then the Department has never looked back so far as its progress and development is concerned. |
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| Introduction of M. Phil Course |
| It was due to these healthy developments that the Department, inspite of the paucity of Teaching Faculty, was encouraged to introduce M.Phil programme in the early eighties and the teachers left no stone unturned to make it a successful venture. The Course continues till date with changes in its programmes from time to time in order to ensure that the new developments taking place in the fields of learning are adequately reflected in the syllabus and courses of study prescribed for the programme. |
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| Change of Guards |
| Dr. Gian Chand Jam who had set up and developed the Department to a considerable extent left the University of Jammu in 1976 and joined the Allahabad University as Prof. And Head of the Urdu Department. From 1976 to 1977 the Department was run by Dr. S.L.Kalra as its Head. In 1977, Prof.Jagan Nath Azad joined the Department as its Head and retired in 1983 after rendering commendable service to the University. During Prof Jam’s tenure the Department organized Ghalib Centena celebration in 1969 with considerable fanfare. Prof J.N Azad’s tenure was however full of such activities .A number of National and international seminars were organized besides Iqbla’s Birth centenaiy eleberations in which internationally renowned scholars on Iqbal like Anamilj Shimil participated. A photo exhibition on Iqbal was also organized. From 1983 to 1989 the Department was again headed by Prof. SL Kaira who retired on December 31, 1997. Dr. LV. Manzar Azmi also became Reader and Prof in 1983 and 1990 respectively. He also headed the Department under the roation of Headship scheme from 1990 to 1993 when he also retired from the University service. |
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