Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Rehabilitation work in over 2,000 schools and colleges, which were destroyed in the deadly earthquake in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, is yet to commence despite the lapse of 11 years.

As many as 2,900 schools and colleges were devastated during the disastrous earthquake that struck AJK on October 8, 2005. The extended aid from international donors for renovation and reconstruction of schools ran into million of rupees but the rehabilitation and reconstruction work of the destroyed schools and colleges has still not started.

Giving briefing to National Assembly’s (NA) Standing Committee on Kashmir Affairs, the AJK finance secretary claimed that reconstruction of 700 schools has been completed, while construction work on 1,243 schools was underway.

He said that Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) provided assistance to the AJK government for construction of schools. There were around 1,000 schools wherein construction work has not been started due to lack of funds, he added.

The NA committee has summoned ERRA in next meeting to explain the situation, as the AJK finance secretary failed to give satisfactory replies in terms of utilisation of funds collected from international donors. ERRA would be questioned about the use
of funds.

As many as 6,393 schools, colleges and universities were currently operating in AJK, while over 700,000 students were studying therein. The government had spent funds amounting to Rs 21.16 billion last year on education in the previous financial year but these funds were not enhanced for promotion of education during this fiscal year.

The finance secretary told the committee that there has been no increase in the AJK budget for the last 10 years, adding that most schools and colleges across the area lack basic facilities including construction of boundary walls.

This state of affairs was posing a serious security risk to the students, as they were forced to attend classes in unfavourable conditions under open sky. They were suffering heavily in terms of academic activities, but the AJK administration was playing the role of a glum spectator on this count.