Centre nod to 14 colleges in J-K

The bus to Muzaffarabad, it appears, has put education in the state in top gear. As a build-up to the Prime Minister’s Srinagar visit, ...

The bus to Muzaffarabad, it appears, has put education in the state in top gear. As a build-up to the Prime Minister’s Srinagar visit, the Centre and the state are getting their act together to build 14 degree colleges.

After prodding by the PMO, the state last month notified 13 locations — mainly militant-infested border areas — where these colleges would come up. And immediately after the notification, the Planning Commission, on March 31, released Rs 49 crore for building these colleges in Doda, Rajouri, Poonch, Badgaon, among others. Six of these institutions would be exclusively for women.

The panel also released Rs 20 crore each for campus development of Srinagar and Jammu varsities, sources said.

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The state has been given an initial Rs 14 crore to start work on the degree colleges.

Also on the anvil are ITIs and central schools with emphasis on primary education in English. The attempt is to use education to bring back the restive Kashmir Valley into the national fold.

A similar approach is being used for the North-East. After granting Central University status to Manipur last week, the Centre plans to extend the same for Arunachal and Tripura this fiscal. The PMO has agreed to approach the Planning Commission on behalf of the HRD Ministry for additional funds that would allow Central funding for both universities. The status is being accorded also as there is growing perception among these states that the Central varsity tag comes after a bout of violence.

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