The union ministry of human resource development (MHRD) has approved funding for reconstruction of school buildings that were mysteriously gutted in Kashmir during the summer unrest of 2016.
An official in the education department said the MHRD has provided this financial assistance in addition to the annual allocation under various centrally sponsored schemes which are under implementation in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The MHRD had convened a separate project approval board meeting in 2017 wherein it agreed to provide additional financial assistance to the state for reconstruction of these school buildings,” an official said.
At least 32 government-run school buildings and that of a few private educational institutions were gutted across Kashmir during 2016 when wide-scale protests shook the Kashmir valley through the summer months.
“In the meeting, state had projected 34 school buildings including some private schools but the MHRD approved financial assistance for only 28 schools under erstwhile SSA and RMSA scheme,” the official said.
He said an amount of Rs 11 crore was approved for 12 school buildings under Rashtriya Madhiyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Rs 9 crore for 16 school buildings under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
“The state was given authorisation to utilise Rs 10 crore under RMSA,” he said, adding that tenders for reconstruction of these school buildings under RMSA have been issued by the department.
“But from the current session these buildings will be constructed under integrated Samagra Shiksha scheme which subsumes SSA and RMSA. The MHRD from current financial year has merged the SSA and RMSA into one integrated Samagra Shiksha for better utilisation of funds.”
Last year, the directorate of school education Kashmir (DSEK) had prepared a detailed project report (DPR) worth Rs 8 crore for the reconstruction of these 32 school buildings.
But the reconstruction of these buildings could not be taken up due to paucity of funds.
“The state (Govt) provided aggregate amount of Rs 50 lakh as adhoc arrangement to make these schools functional,” the official said, adding that these schools will be now reconstructed as MHRD has provided a whopping amount for it.