Ladakhi students seek better edu infrastructure

Vikas Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 28

Even though the Union Territory (UT) status has been hailed by students of Ladakh, they still have apprehensions about the lack of infrastructure in the education sector in the region, especially in higher education.

“No doubt, our long-pending demand on the UT status has been fulfilled by the government, we have other important issues that need to be addressed. Post UT status, the government made several announcements to strengthen the education sector but it will take some time. The Cluster University is there, but there is no infrastructure available,” Lobang Norboo, ex-president of the All Ladakh Students Association (ALSA), Jammu, told The Tribune.

“Till the time full-fledged infrastructure is created in the UT, we request the Government of India (GoI) to announce 1 per cent reservation for the students of the Ladakh region across the country, both in academic and professional courses like it is being given to Kashmiri Pandit (KP) students. We are demanding reservation on a temporary basis till the required educational infrastructure is put in place in Ladakh,” he added.

“In order to have proper representation for students of the Ladakh region, the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) should have conducted elections in June-July instead of March-April and October-November. A majority of the students were not able to cast their votes during these elections as they were busy in preparing for examinations,” Lobang said.

Another Ladakhi student Stanzin Lakchok said, “In New Delhi, there is a nodal officer to address the issues and grievances of North-East states, especially of the student community. We also want a similar official in Jammu to put forth our cases with the higher authorities.”

“Ladakh has tribal population and the students pursuing studies in different educational institutes in the UT of J&K are depending on scholarships. Parents have no choice but to send their wards to pursue studies outside the region,” Lakchok said.

“We hope that post UT status, youths of the Ladakh region will get ample employment opportunities. The Central recruitment agencies like the Union Public Service Commission and the Staff Selection Commission, etc should conduct examinations to recruit youths to help address the unemployment issue,” Jigmat Padma, a student from Ladakh, said.

“There is no dearth of talent in Ladakh, especially in sports like ice hockey, archery and horse polo. There should be an annual sports meet in multi-disciplines in the region to explore the hidden sports talent here,” said Rinchan Namgyal, president, ALSA, Jammu.