Kund (Kulgam), March 07: Government Primary School at Banipath Kanchloo, Kund in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district has only eleven students and is functioning in a dilapidated building for the last ten years.
The school falls in the far-flung area of the district and all the students belong to the Schedule Tribe (ST) category.
The school hardly bears a look of an educational institution. The rooms are without windows and doors since its establishment in 2010.
“All the students studying here fall under the ST category and all of them belong to underprivileged families and no one has listened to their grievances so far,” a local told Rising Kashmir.
The locals said the school building got damaged due to a landslide a decade back and was declared unsafe. Later, the school was shifted to a nearby house.
The school now functions in a rented building but the owner says he has not received a single penny from the Education Department as rent.
“On the very first day of the school’s reopening after winter break, the owner locked the school and asked them to clear his dues,” the locals said.
Nazir Ahmad, the owner of the building, told Rising Kashmir that he has not received any rent till date. “I am also working as a contingent paid worker (CPW) and my spouse works as a cook, but the department hasn’t provided any support to us,” he said, adding, “We have moved from pillar to post but to no avail.”
Zonal Education Officer (ZEO) Devsar, Mohammad Maqbool told Rising Kashmir that the school was reopened after he sent a team to check the issue with the owner of the building.
“For the main building, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) has been submitted to the concerned department and we are awaiting its administrative approval,” he said.
