Rs 85 crore SPA fund for college development in J&K
Yash Khajuria	10/4/2011 8:53:43 PM
JAMMU, Oct 4: With many of the schools and degree colleges lacking the basic infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir, government has released Rs. 85 crores under Special Plan Assistance (SPA) to upgrade the existing infrastructure. The amount will be used for the upgradation of class-rooms, library and laboratory facilities, lavatory blocks and upgrading the basic requirements particularly in rural and far flung areas. Under the project Rs 40 crore has been released for to the education department while Rs 45 crore have been released to the Higher education department to upgrade newly opened Degree colleges in J&K. Officials said that Central Government has approved Rs 100 crore plan submitted by the state to upgrade the Degree colleges and primary and secondary schools in the J&K. Under the action plan money would be used to comply with the norms set by National Accredited Assessment Committee (NAAC), which has shown its displeasure with the infrastructure of higher education in the state. “Many schools in the state are in worst conditions and there is a need to upgrade them. So far money was the main reason for the delay in implementing the upgradation plan”, said a official. “Though dozens of degree colleges were opened in different districts, but most of them are without basic infrastructure. No heed was so far given to them. Colleges become just a showcase”, official said on the condition of anonymity. Sources said that to keep tab of the projects and implementation a monitoring team comprised of Minister In-charge and the Administrative Secretary will look after the project. Under the Action Plan infrastructure development will be carried on in as many as 74 Government Degree Colleges in Jammu and Kashmir focusing on various requirements in the each educational institution. It is pertinent to mention here that while Government colleges established in 2005 have their own buildings, those announced in 2008 land has still not been identified and most of them function from higher secondary schools. Though the city colleges are overburdened by the students forcing Higher Education department to start evening classes to accommodate the rush, the newly opened degree colleges across the state have become ‘showpieces’, as lack of infrastructure and subject combination has led to very few admission this session. While the five colleges in Jammu city, GGM Science College, SPMR Commerce college, MAM college, Government College for Women (GCW) Gandhi nagar and GCW, Parade are crammed, the institutions opened with much funfair by the state government since 2005 have again not received much attention from admission seekers.