PM asks MHA to take initiative to reopen schools in Kashmir

New Delhi, October 27

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is believed to be concerned over prolonged closure of the educational institutions in Kashmir due to separatist-sponsored strike and wants their early reopening for which the Centre is understood to have asked the state police to prepare an action plan for providing security to schools.

Modi is worried that the closure of educational institutions for such a long period is affecting thousands of students and feels that if schools reopen, then it would be a great step towards restoring normalcy in Kashmir, official sources said here today.

The Prime Minister is believed to have asked the Home Ministry to explore ways to get the schools and colleges in Kashmir reopened at the earliest, they said.

Accordingly, the Home Ministry is believed to have asked the Jammu and Kashmir Police to prepare an action plan to provide security to schools, especially those vulnerable, the sources said.

The Home Ministry is said to have persuaded the Jammu and Kashmir Government to direct the state Board of School Education to notify over 500 schools to conduct regular examinations.

The exam for Class X will commence from November 15 and will culminate on November 28 while the exam for Class XII will commence from November 14 and end on December 3.

The educational institutions in the Valley are closed since July 9 following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani.

The Centre is also worried over the incidents of burning down of over 20 schools in various parts of the Valley.

Sources said the assessment of security forces is that radical forces are trying to force children in rural areas to join Jamaat schools or madrasas and not opt for modern education so that youngsters could be radicalised easily. PTI