Budgam, July 09: Meeripora village in central Kashmir’s Budgam district has primary, middle as well as high school. However, the former functions from a rented accommodation while the latter runs from the middle school which already has space problems and lacks other facilities.
Ghulam Mohammad Dar, a local from Meeripora village whose child studies in the school, told Rising Kashmir that in 2005, the government provided a primary school under the SSA scheme for the village, and it started functioning from a rented accommodation.
Presently, the school has 150 boys and girls but lacks proper facilities, he said, adding that the school has three small rooms and two tin shed rooms. “It does not have proper space, drinking water facilities, a playground and separate toilet facilities,” he said. “The students suffer due to bad conditions of classrooms. Eighteen years have passed, and no building has been provided to this school.”
The students said the school is in bad condition. “Sometimes we attend classes in the open field and on the roof of this rented accommodation,” Aliya Majeed, a 4th-grade student, said, adding, “The government should take necessary steps and construct a proper school building with all kinds of facilities.”
Another local, Abdul Rashid Dar, said during 2009 to 2010, the government also approved a building for the high school under the RMSA scheme. “For its construction, the government-sanctioned 49.19 lakh rupees and released this amount into the account of the Roads and Buildings (R&B) Department Budgam, which is the construction agency of this building at that time,” he said.
Dar said the person who provided land to the government also demanded compensation and employment, and the contractor stopped the construction work. “After that, no school building was constructed in the village. Only the base of the school building has been constructed,” he said.
He added, “Six months ago, the villagers, along with officials of the education department and revenue department, identified another Kahachari land for this school building which was already provided by the government in 2009-2010. However, presently, the high school functions from the building of a middle school which also does not have proper space.”
The students from the 9th and 10th grades said they are attending classes in the middle school. They said if the government constructs a building for the high school, the primary school will be clubbed with the middle school on a temporary basis till the building for the primary school is also allotted and constructed.
The locals and students have requested Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Director School Education Kashmir to look into the matter and take necessary steps in this regard.
An official from the Zonal Educational Office (ZEO) Narbal told Rising Kashmir that the school building for the Government High School Meeripora has already been allocated by the government. We have identified the Kahachari land where this high school building will be constructed, he said.
“However, the building for the primary school will also be constructed,” the official said. “We have sent the proposal to the higher-ups for the construction of the primary school building in the village.”
