Locals blame officials for delaying NOCs of new school building
Suhail Bhat
Srinagar, Apr 18: Government Middle School Takibal in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district is running from a dilapidated and rented two-room accommodation for the last 55 years, even though the land for a new school building has been identified six years ago.
The students told Excelsior that this school lacks a water supply, washroom, playground, and other basic facilities. There are about 70 students in this school and 7 teachers but it has not been upgraded. The students often fall ill due to the presence of mites and rodents in the school.
The Government established this school in 1966 as a Primary School. It was upgraded to a Middle School in 2008, but authorities did nothing to update its infrastructure. “A small two-room hut was rented for the school in 1966, and the school has been running in the same rooms since then. It is in dilapidated condition and has never been renovated. The roll of the students has substantially increased”, Ghulam Qadir, a local told Excelsior.
In 2015, the locals and some teachers of the school took the matter to officials in the department, and the district administration was asked to look into the matter. “The then Deputy Commissioner (DC), Bashir Ahmad Khan, instructed the local administration to submit a report. The report was submitted by the Tehsildar and 1.7 kanals of state land was identified for a new school building,” a teacher at the school, who has been following the developments, told Excelsior.
The process was started and the school authorities were asked to get NOCs from different departments including the local Auqaf. They also needed to get a NOC from the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Office, Bijbehara. “Because the land is located in the compound of the Kir-Kadal Lift Irrigation Scheme, we were asked to get the permission of PHE officials,” the teacher said. While all other NOCs were secured, he added, the NOC from the PHE Department never came.
The teachers at the school have recently visited higher officials and have been asked to get the NOCs afresh, and the NOC from the PHE Department is yet to come.
Executive Engineer of the PHE Department in Bijbehara, Muhammad Haneef, said the department was withholding permission as it has to create some infrastructure on the land. “We have to construct some buildings under Jal Jewan Mission on the land. We can use the land which is left after we complete the construction process for the school building, but it will take some time. The better option is to look for an alternate land for the purpose,” he said.
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