The Minister for Education, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari today approved permanent faculty for the commencement of 5 Years Integrated Course in Mathematics in J&K Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMS) from this academic session.The Minister issued these directions during a meeting convened to take review of the functioning of J&K Institute of Mathematical Sciences. The meeting was attended by Commissioner Secretary Higher Education, Dr Asghar Hassan Samoon, Nodal Officer IMS and other senior officers of the higher education department.During the meeting the Minister was apprised about different activities being carried out by the department and the different issues concerning the department.Bukhari took the first hand information from the officers regarding the strength of staff and the infrastructure at IMS.After being informed about the lack of staff in the institute, Bukhari approved the permanent faculty besides authorizing the Nodal Officer to go for academic arrangements if required to make the institute fully functional.To mention, J&K Institute of Mathematical Sciences was inaugurated in 2013 and was set up in a newly constructed building at Amar Singh College, Srinagar. The Minister was informed that no formal courses in Mathematics were being offered by the Institute sofar.The meeting was informed that the students are already enrolled through proper national level entrance examination and the formal classes would commence from this academic session.The institute has been setup with an aim to conduct research in mathematical sciences and dissemination of findings to the related sectors.The meeting was informed that the department of higher education has already raised the issue of funding of JKIMS at a tune of Rs 50 crore under PMDP and its affiliation to Mathematics Institute Chennai.