Srinagar: Expressing serious concern over the defunct EDUSAT (Educational Satellite) facility established by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for distance learning in higher secondary schools and colleges across Jammu and Kashmir, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senior leader and MLA Elect Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari today said the purpose for which this advanced facility was installed has been defeated by the callous attitude of the previous dispensation which was not able to shoulder the responsibility of its maintenance.
In a statement issued here, Bukhari said the way this technologically advanced facility has been left to disuse has exposed the height of inefficiency and incompetence of the previous dispensation that failed to continue with this vital educational programme for the students of the state.
“It is astonishing that the previous government could not pay few lakhs as annual maintenance charges and deprived thousands of students of learning via satellite linkages in around 100 educational institutions across Jammu and Kashmir,” Bukhari remarked.
He said the National Conference and Congress coalition would only boast using power point presentations before the Planning Commission of India about increasing the outreach of higher education by establishing EDUSAT hubs but on ground this Government had failed to keep this programme operational.
Bukhari said the rural students unable to pay hefty amounts to the coaching centers have been divested of their right to prepare themselves through satellite learning in the designated institutions in their respective areas. “If the previous Government was not in a position to pay the maintenance charges, it should not have made any commitment with the sponsors of this facility. Instead of augmenting infrastructure and extending this facility upto high school level, the previous Government treated this programme as a liability and shelved it for obvious reasons,” Bukhari observed.
The MLA Elect urged the Governor N.N Vohra to accord the highest priority to the issue and facilitate resumption of EDUSAT services in the state at the earliest. He stressed on the need for a steady focus on imparting education to the students on job oriented streams in addition to the traditional educational streams that are already taught in schools and colleges.
Bukhari said steps must be taken to improve the civil infrastructure in the educational field through augmentation in terms of setting up satellite network to promote the cause of higher education across the state.
The PDP senior leader opined that the education sector in the state is in dire need to keep the pace with the modes of dissemination of education presently in vogue in the country and across the globe. “Introduction and establishment of learning centers under EDUSAT in both the divisions of Jammu and Kashmir was highly laudable but the way this advanced system was handled has surely dashed the expectations of student community who had immensely benefited from this facility. This facility must be restored without any delay,” he demanded.
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