The residents of Manjakote tehsil in Rajouri district are upin arms against the government for “ignoring” their “long-pending” demand ofsanctioning a government degree college in the area.
Alleging discrimination by successive governments, the irkedresidents have now pinned their hopes on the governor’s administration, urgingit to come forward and redress their issue.
While talking to Greater Kashmir, the residents, includingImtiyaz Ahmed, Zakir Hussain, Hanif Ahmed and Sunil Sharma, said that Manjakotetehsil is one of the oldest as well as largest tehsils of the district, but hasbeen bearing the brunt of discrimination since decades.
They said that more than a dozen villages in the tehsil,starting from Bhimber Gali to Niaka Panjrian, are located along the sensitiveLine of Control (LoC).
“In the jurisdiction of Manjakote tehsil, there are fivegovernment and two private higher secondary schools, ten high schools, 48middle schools, 92 primary schools, 24 private institutions of education, whilethe tehsil comprises of thirty six panchayats,” they said.
“Setting up a government degree college in the area isa long-pending demand, but it has been completely ignored. As a result, thecareers of hundreds of students have been put on stake,” the locals said, whileappealing the governor’s administration to bring to an end to their miseries.
The local students are forced to shift to Rajouri, in orderto receive college education, while some, who have financial constraints, areleft with no other option than to quit studies.
Deputy commissioner Rajouri, Mohammad Aijaz Asad, toldGreater Kashmir that the Rajouri district administration has constituted a teamof officers, including principal post graduate college Rajouri, chief educationofficer Rajouri and zonal education officer Manjakote, to conduct a survey andfurnish a feasibility report for setting up a new degree college in the tehsil.