Faizan Wani
Srinagar, Aug 23: With 1300 school buildings lying vacant in Jammu and Kashmir, J&K’s chief secretary Arun Kumar Mehta has directed the General Administration Department (GAD) and Planning Development & Monitoring department to coordinate with respective deputy commissioners for allotment of these buildings.
The directions were passed by the Chief Secretary during a meeting chaired by him on July 26.
“The Chief Secretary observed that the School Education department (SED) has furnished a list of 1300 vacant school buildings which can utilized for Panchayat Ghars, offices of district development councils and district development councils as also accommodating other department,” read the documents.
“The Chief Secretary directed the GAD & PD&MD to coordinate in the matter in consultation with respective deputy commissioners for further allotment of these buildings.”
After the CS’s directive, the department of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj wrote to its both directors to coordinate with the concerned DCs in the matter.
These school buildings were left vacant after PDP-BJP government after the previous government merged the schools with zero or less enrollment of students.
On the instructions of the government, the School Education department had recently collected data from Chief Education Officers about such buildings in Kashmir and Jammu divisions.
