Tarn Taran Diary: Kairon a village with unique features

Kairon is a village with unique features as it is the native place of former Chief Minister of undivided Punjab, Partap Singh Kairon. The village is situated on the Tarn Taran-Patti road and on the railway line from Amritsar to Kasur-Lahore before Partition. The village which has a population of 9,000 (approximately) at present with 5,000 voters was the centre of active politics during Partap Singh Kairon's regime. The village gave birth to a number of intellectuals, particularly legendary teachers and employees in different departments. After Partap Singh Kairon, it was his son Surinder Singh Kairon and after that his grandson Adesh Partap Singh, former minister, who brought laurels to the village. The village has different features which have unique attraction.

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Fate of Law University Uncertainty prevails over the fate of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur State University of Law, Punjab, which is under construction in Kairon village of Tarn Taran district. The university was approved in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha session with many other projects declared for different parts of the state during the rule of the then Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh in August, 2021. At that time, Punjab was not trifurcated into Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. An administrative approval of Rs 280 crore was given for the construction of the university building and other infrastructure by the state government. Rs 15 crore was released for the construction which was started on 25 acres of land which was mortgaged in the name of the university. After the Rs 15 crore grant was spent, the state government stopped caring about the future of the university and the construction company stopped further work. Work on the site is closed for the last more than a year and there is no one else other than Bhanu Charan of West Bengal and Baldev Singh of Kairon village, the chowkidars (watchmen), who are unaware of the fate of university as no construction material has reached here for more than a year. The villagers said that the construction company has stopped work as no official was responding to them regarding the future of the university. Harminder Singh Gill, former MLA, said the project said to be a gift for the area, had become uncertain now. The construction work of the building has been left midway causing loss to the state exchequer. The 25 acres of land which was in the name of the Government High Smart School in Kairon village too has become useless now.

Government Girls Senior Secondary School now lags behind

Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Kairon, is a pioneer educational institute and was opened to impart education to women in the year 1916 under the name of 'Mata Sahib Kaur Bhujangan Boarding House' by Nihal Singh Kairon, father of Partap Singh Kairon. The foundation was laid by Maharaja of Patiala, Bhupinder Singh Mohinder Bahadur. It was an institution with boarding facility and the girls from far off areas came to study here. It was then taken over by the District Board, Lahore, in 1918 and was upgraded to Middle standard. It was upgraded to senior secondary level in 1986 by the state government and the school opened a sports wing for different games. It was an institution which produced girl players of international level and Mandeep Kaur Cheema was one of those lucky players. Because of the boarding facilities, the players used to stay in the school and do physical practice. The hockey team of the school was one of the best in the state. The Education Department and the sports department have sanctioned coaches to train girl students in different events like wresting and athletics. The school used to perform much better in the field of education too. With the change of time, it is now a mere school with no other activity like sports. The hostel facility has been closed for more than six years as there is no sports teacher like DPE, PTI or coach. The players of the school who used to take part in tournaments at the national level have turned back from zonal level tournaments. For the 200 students of Plus One and Plus Two classes, there is no lecturer in the subject of Physics, Biology, Math and Punjabi. The officials of the Education Department, while confirming the fate of the school, said the matter is in the notice of the department and the state government too.

(Contributed by Gurbaxpuri)