Students protest locked new school building in Rajouri

Our Correspondent

Rajouri, July 2

Students of a high school at Targain in Budhal tehsil of Rajouri district yesterday held a protest demonstration against the Education Department authorities and also blocked the Rajouri-Budhal road demanding immediate unlocking of the school building.

Muneer Hussain, a resident of Targain, had donated the land for the construction of a school building in 1954 and since then the school has been operating from the old building.

In 2014, a new school building in the vicinity of the old building was constructed under the Rashtriya Madhmik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) for which Muneer reportedly had been demanding either land compensation or a permanent job in the Education Department for one of his family members.

In revenue records the land is still in the name of Muneer Hussain as the Education Department authorities has not converted it in the records in the name of the Education Department.

Immediately after the construction of the new building, Muneer Hussain locked it and as a result, the school authorities were forced to run the school either in the verandah or in the open.

The protesting students today blamed the Education Department and the school administration for the problems being faced by them in continuing their studies in the absence of proper classrooms and a laboratory.

“It is a big embarrassment for the Education Department authorities but nobody is bothered to solve the dispute,” said student Mohammad Sadiq.

Though the headmaster had took up the issue with the District Administration, Chief Education Officer (CEO), Zonal Education Officer (ZEO) and the SHO, Budhal police station, but the deadlock continued.

“The demand for a permanent job for one person of the family of Muneer Husain is irrational. It is not possible for us and no such agreement was made with Hussain when he had donated the land. However, to compensate the family Muneer was appointed as a cook and his son as a water carrier,” said CEO AH Fani. “The land owner has also moved court for relief and therefore, we can’t break the locks,” he added.

Kotranka SDM Sukhpal Singh said, “Neither the Revenue Department nor the Education Department provided required documents to his office for transferring the ownership.”

The matter was today taken up with Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri, Deepti Uppal and she directed the CEO to lodge an FIR against Muneer Hussain and also to unlock the school building, he added.