NEW DELHI: In a first,

's top seven educational institutes, including the most-sought-after Fergusson and VIT Pune, are soon going to set up their campuses in Kashmir.

The administrations of these institutes have expressed their interest to Sarhad, a Pune-based non-profit organization, which has been working for peace-building and education in Jammu & Kashmir for the last two decades.

Since the announcement of reorganization and bifurcation of J&K state, which invalidated its special privileges under Articles 370 and 35A, the central government has been expecting massive private investment in the Valley.

Sanjay Nahar, head of NGO Sarhad, told TOI that they had been making efforts since 2004, when they first sought land from the

government, to set up campuses of Maharashtra's reputed institutes in Kashmir.

"Though chief minister Mufti Sayeed was ready to give land to institutes like Fergusson and Symbiosis, it did not work out because educational institutes were not willing at the time. We again approached all highly rated institutes -

, VIT Pune, DY Patil University, Garware College, SP College, Arham Institute and many others - recently to set up their branches in Kashmir and Kargil. Seven of them, including VIT and Arham, are now ready to start their campuses in the Valley," Nahar told TOI on phone.

Noted biologist and life sciences expert Dr Wasudeo Namdeo Gade, vice-president of

, confirmed that the institute has given its consent to set up its campus in Kashmir. "We are very positive about it and we want to start work on the proposal as early as possible. Majority of the seats (on the Kashmir campus) will be reserved for Kashmiri students and the rest will be open to students from the rest of the country," he said.

Shailesh Pagariya, president of Arham Group of Institutes also told TOI on phone that he was very keen to establish a campus in Kashmir. “We would like to open the campus from the next academic year in the Valley. Now everything depends on the J&K administration and how soon they can facilitate the implementation of the blueprint. Our priority would be to provide world class education to Kashmiri students,” he said.

Nahar said his endeavour would be to restore Kashmir’s glorious history of being the fountainhead of intellectualism and education for more than 2000 years. “I know it is not a one day project but we are receiving very positive responses. Symbiosis has set up a committee to discuss what they can do for Kashmir. We have already spoken to secretary higher education J&K, Talat Parvez and Maharashtra’s higher education minister Vinod Tawde. Slowly but firmly we are starting the process,” he said.

The NGO, he said, is also trying to persuade the institutes to keep the cost of education low and avoid commercialization. “We want to send a message to the country especially Pune and overall, Maharashtra, that Kashmiris are our people and we need to look after them,” he added.